President Benigno Aquino III. Screengrab from RTVM
TOKYO – President Aquino met with members of the Filipino community in Japan Tuesday night as he began his four-day state visit here.
An estimated 300 Filipinos living and working in Japan turned up for the meet at the Okura Hotel for an hour-long dialogue with the President who, in his speech before leaving Manila, had hailed them as the country’s “ambassadors.”
Those who met Aquino were nine cadets of the Philippine Military Academy currently in training at the National Defense Academy of Japan under an exchange program: Alhisham Julwadi, Mark James Amigo, Mark Jayson Garcia, Bernabe Bagorio, Allan Kenny Manuel, Willy Sa-ao Jr., Romel Iddoba Jr., Aljan Osmera and Charmaine Lim.
The President also met with nurse and caregivers deployed in Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
There are 222,576 Filipinos in Japan, 2.24 percent of whom are irregular migrants. Three fourths of Filipinos registered in Japan are women with Japanese and foreign spouses, making up the largest number of Philippine residents here.
Apart from permanent residents, Filipinos in Japan include professionals, creative service and skilled workers. KS