President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is back from a five-day official visit to Japan, exultant as he brought home $13 billion worth of pledges and investments anticipated to create over 24,000 jobs and help strengthen the country’s economic environment.
The ninth country he has visited since his inauguration on June 30, 2022 has given the 65-year-old leader an opportunity to renew the partnership between Manila and Tokyo and a stronger cooperation with the global community.
During his visit, the President had an audience with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako and met up with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when they mapped out a “transformative, future-oriented partnership responsive to new developments.”
He also witnessed the signing of seven major accords that include a 337 billion yen ($3 billion) infrastructure loan agreement.
A total 35 investment agreements on areas of cooperation were sealed between the Philippines and Japan on Friday, witnessed by President Marcos and his official delegation.
Apart from the 35 investment deals, the Philippines also sealed bilateral pacts with Japan to boost cooperation in fields, including infrastructure development, defense, agriculture, as well as information and communications technology.
In an interview in Tokyo, the President underlined the importance of his visit he described as “really setting down the blueprint for our relations as we slowly emerge from the pandemic economy,” adding the effects of his trip, particularly the agreements, will be felt “very, very soon, very rapidly back home in the Philippines.”
The visit also enabled President Marcos to meet up with the Filipino community at the Belle Salle Tokyo Nihonbashi, where he praised Overseas Filipino Workers for their hard work, diligence and for putting the Philippne image in the global radar screen.
According to the President, the remittances of OFWs play a huge part in keeping the Philippine economy afloat, adding “in times of hardships, we rely on the remittances you send…your sacrifice of working abroad is not only for the benefit of your family, but also of the whole country.”
The chief executive gave assurances of continued support through the Department of Migrant Workers led by Secretary Susan Ople.
To date, there are nearly two million OFWs after 2.24 million were repatriated in June last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, of whom 1.4 million were land-based workers and roughly 808,000 were sea-based.
The President reassured OFWs the government is boosting the quality of jobs so that time will come when Filipinos would no longer have to go abroad out of necessity.
The President said: “And my dream really is for us to say that there are enough jobs in the Philippines, and that an OFW will only go abroad to work because he/she wants to, not because he/she has to, because there are enough jobs and life is good in our country.
“That is our dream, that is what we are aiming for the country.”