President Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday held a telephone summit to discuss among others the impending release of the JY20 billion (roughly P9 billion) Post-Disaster Standby Loan to the Philippines, the status of the subway and railway projects in Metro Manila and China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.
According to an overview provided by the Japanese Embassy in Manila, the telephone conversation between the two leaders lasted for 20 minutes with the Prime Minister reiterating Japan’s support for the Philippines’ pandemic recovery efforts.
Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is slated to release JY20 billion loan to the Philippines in June 2021 to help finance the Philippines’ pandemic response measures, such as testing and quarantine facility expansion and social amelioration program for vulnerable people and sectors, following the re-imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the NCR Plus on March 29, 2021.
“Upon the request of the Philippines, the approval of this third tranche came as a result of the successful summit teleconference between Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte held on May 19, 2021,” the Japanese Embassy said in the media handout.
President Duterte, for his part, cited the legacies that will be created by the subway development and the extension of the North-South Commuter Railway in Metro Manila which would live on for generations to come. He also conveyed his gratitude to the Japanese government for its contributions to the Mindanao peace process.
Coinciding with the 65th anniversary of the Japan-Philippines diplomatic relations and a decade-old Strategic Partnership, the two leaders agreed to coordinate closely for the promotion of both a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" and the "ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)."
The two leaders likewise shared the intention to strengthen their cooperation in the Sulu and Celebes Seas and surrounding areas.
The Japanese prime minister expressed his opposition to China’s “continued and strengthened unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea” and shared his grave concerns about recent developments in China, including Beijing’s implementation of its new Coast Guard Law. The two leaders agreed to work closely toward the maintenance of peace and stability in the region under the rule of law such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The two leaders also shared their views regarding the situation in Myanmar even as Suga lauded the efforts made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) especially during the April 24, 2021 Leaders’ Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.