The Philippines has benefited more from Japan than in China despite warming relations with Beijing, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Wednesday.
Locsin made the statement after former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asked him about the Philippines’ relations with China.
“Yes, we sign up to this and that agreement but they hardly materialize. They hardly materialize and if you would compare to Japanese investments and official assistance, [it’s] nothing,” Locsin replied, referring to the Manila’s bilateral agreements with Beijing.
Locsin was in New York for the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. He made the statement during a discussion with members of the Asia Society, where Rudd is the policy institute president.
“If there is such a thing as a rising China, there’s apparently a phenomenon … of a rising Japan and we’re feeling that,” he noted.
“Not only that but military assistance. We get what…10 [military] ships?” he said.
Data from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) showed that Japan’s total official development assistance as of March 19 amounted to $8.26 billion, which is 46 percent of the total ODA that the Philippines has received.
While Japan is the top ODA fund source of the Philippines, China is at eighth place, after the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United States, Korea, Australia, and the United Nations.
China’s total ODA to the Philippines is at $364 million or only 2 percent of total ODA.