Japan-Philippines Relations
Courtesy Call on H.E. Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines by Foreign Minister IWAYA
January 15, 2025
On January 15, from 3:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. Japan time) for approximately 35 minutes, Minister IWAYA paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines. The courtesy call was also attended by Hon. Enrique A. Manalo, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines. The overview is as follows.
- At the beginning, President Marcos welcomed Minister IWAYA's visit to the Philippines and noting that the visit was extremely timely, coming immediately after the Japan-U.S.-Philippines leaders' video conference. He stated that trilateral cooperation has produced concrete results in many areas and the Philippines intend to further strengthen Japan-Philippines relations.
In response, Minister IWAYA stated that he was honored to meet President Marcos, and that the Philippines is a strategic partner that shares fundamental values and principles with Japan. He also expressed his desire to strengthen cooperation between Japan and the Philippines on security and international affairs with the aim of realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific（FOIP）”as cooperation with like-minded countries becomes more important amid current international community which faces serious division and confrontation. - Regarding bilateral relations, Minister IWAYA noted that recently rapid progress has been made in the security field under the leadership of the President Marcos, and welcomed the approval of the the Agreement between Japan and the Republic of the Philippines Concerning the Facilitation of Reciprocal Access and Cooperation between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (“the Japan-Philippines RAA”) by the Philippine Senate last month. He also expressed his desire to promote concrete cooperation in areas such as security capability building, including through Official Security Assistance (OSA), infrastructure development including flood control, climate change, and telecommunications. In addition, he also stated that he would welcome the participation of the Philippines and visitors from the Philippines to the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
In response, President Marcos expressed his intention to further deepen cooperation in each field, building on the achievements to date. - Regarding Japan-Philippines-U.S. trilateral cooperation, Minister IWAYA stated that, guided by the leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the United States, trilateral cooperation has made concrete progress in the fields of security and the economy, while noting the leaders’ video conference on January 13 and the telephone conversation between President Marcos and U.S. Vice President Harris on the 14th. He also expressed his desire to maintain this momentum and expand the scope of cooperation in a multilayered manner.
In response, President Marcos stated that the Philippines also places importance on the trilateral cooperation and expressed his desire to further deepen cooperation.