MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday expressed gratitude to Japan for being a great host nation to abroad Filipinos, in addition to for supporting the peace and growth course of within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
In a courtesy name on the members of the Japanese parliament in Tokyo, Marcos thanked the Japanese authorities for giving Filipinos residing and dwelling in Japan “a very good life.”
“Our countrymen are unanimous in their expressions of their own gratitude for how they have been accepted into the workforce, of the Japanese workforce and into the society – of the fabric of Japanese society,” Marcos informed the members of the Japanese parliament.
To date, there are round 300,000 members of the Filipino neighborhood in Japan, in accordance with authorities figures.
Marcos additionally emphasised the significance of the Japanese authorities’s help to maintain peace and order in BARMM.
He hailed the “countless” help given to the Philippines by Japan, together with the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-Bird) program which offers long-term help for governance, decommissioning and socio-economic growth.
Launched in 2006, the J-Bird was designed to contribute to the peace course of and growth in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao and the encircling areas in BARMM.
Marcos likewise acknowledged that the Japanese authorities has lengthy been supportive of the peace course of by way of numerous mechanisms, notably the International Monitoring Team (IMT), the International Contact Group (ICG) and the Independent Commission on Policing (ICP).
“It has been a critical part of our peace process. It is a process that we have been undertaking for many, many years and I think and finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, the participation of the Japanese support in that peace process has been invaluable,” President Marcos mentioned.
Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Mindanao’s peace and growth has reached 51 billion Japanese yen from 2002 to 2019.
In January this 12 months, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) reaffirmed its help to the peace and growth course of within the Bangsamoro area.
JICA is the chief company of Japan’s ODA which handles technical cooperation, loans and funding and grant help, in addition to cooperation volunteers and catastrophe reduction packages.
Marcos invited members of the Japanese parliament to go to the Philippines to see the outcomes of the Japanese authorities’s help to the Filipino individuals.
“Look at the effects of this support that you have been giving us, not only in Southern Philippines but all the many, especially infrastructure projects that Japan has supported over the years,” he mentioned.
Joining Marcos within the assembly with the Japan-Philippines Parliamentary Friendship League (JPPFL) have been former president and now House Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Special Assistant to the President Secretary Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo Jr., and Senator Mark Villar.
Meantime, JPPFL members have been members of the Japanese House of Representatives led by Chairman Moriyama Hiroshi and Vice Chairmen Okuno Shinsuke, Takemi Keizo and Nakagawa Masaharu.
Accompanied by the highest Philippine authorities officers and enterprise leaders, Marcos is presently on a five-day official go to to Japan. (PNA)