Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio arrived in Japan Monday to attend the state funeral of assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe today (Tuesday) at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
Duterte-Carpio paid a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo on Monday.
AFP
Kishida expressed his gratitude to Duterte-Carpio for attending the state funeral and said he was impressed with the fact that both houses of Congress of the Philippines have respectively adopted resolutions expressing sympathy on the passing of the former Prime Minister Abe.
“Prime Minister Kishida, acknowledging Vice President Duterte as the first Cabinet-level dignitary of the Marcos administration to visit Japan, conveyed his commitment to further strengthening the Japan-Philippines relations under the Marcos presidency,” read a statement posted on the Office of the Prime Minister’s website.
“In particular, Prime Minister Kishida informed Japan’s decision to facilitate the improvement of agricultural and fisheries value chains and the collection of small arms and light weapons in Mindanao, as well as to render educational support for junior government officers of the Philippines to study in Japan, and stated that he would like to work together based on the Philippines’ needs toward the establishment of an autonomous government in Bangsamoro in 2025,” it added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Kishida recently met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where they committed to strengthening bilateral ties between the Philippines and Japan.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead on July 8 by a gunman while campaigning for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Nara region.
The suspect reportedly resented the Unification Church because his mother had made hefty donations to the sect, and believed Abe was linked to the group.
Other world leaders expected to attend Abe’s funeral include US Vice President Kamala Harris, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo, and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Abe visited the Philippines at least four times between 2013 and 2017.
