00:00To further strengthen cooperation in key areas such as the economy, defense, and people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and Japan,
00:08Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru paid an official visit to the Philippines today,
00:12where he was warmly received by President Ferdinand R. Marcus Jr. and First Lady Lisa Marcus at the Malacanang Palace.
00:19PTV correspondent Harley Valbuena has this report.
00:22Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba together with Japan First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba arrived at Malacanang past 4.30 in the afternoon today.
00:34They were welcomed by President Ferdinand R. Marcus Jr. and First Lady Lisa Aranata Marcos and were given arrival honors at Kalayaan Hall.
00:44After the traditional signing of the guestbook and tete-a-tete, the two leaders proceeded in their bilateral meeting
00:51together with officials from both countries.
00:54I am looking forward to our talks today, spanning economic cooperation and development,
01:00strong people-to-people ties, and defense and security relationships.
01:05I hope our discussions today will further help us in our common pursuit of peace, security, and prosperity for all.
01:13Our two countries are bound by fundamental values including the rule of law,
01:17as well as shared challenges in the area of security, economy, and disaster prevention.
01:23In the joint press statement after the bilateral meeting,
01:26the President pushed for the further boosting of our economic ties with Japan.
01:31With the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement that we have in place,
01:36we continue to look for ways to strengthen our business ties with Japan
01:41to broaden economic opportunities for Filipinos.
01:44He also commended the development assistance of Japan,
01:47which has helped immensely in maritime domain awareness concerns, infrastructure, food security,
01:54climate change adaptability, digital transformation, agriculture, and other sectors.
02:00The President added that Japan played a huge role in the peace process in Mindanao.
02:05And with the Philippines being the first recipient of Japan's official security assistance,
02:09the country's security agencies got upgrades, especially the Department of National Defense.
02:16Japan, meanwhile, assured continued cooperation in maintaining order
02:20in East and South China Sea and the whole Indo-Pacific region.
02:25I hope that our two nations will continue to closely communicate with each other
02:32to oppose attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas by force or coercion
02:42and to realize free and open Indo-Pacific based on a rule of law.
02:49The two leaders also agreed on the start of negotiations for the acquisition and cross-servicing agreement.
02:57Hardy Valbena from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
