Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez joins President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Governor Tadashi Maeda for a picture during a dinner-meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, hosted by Mitsui & Co. and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation. | PHOTO: Office of Speaker Romualdez
TOKYO, Japan — House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez hopes lawmakers from the Japanese parliament can visit the Philippines, so they could exchange ideas on best parliamentary practices.
Romualdez in a statement on Friday said this after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. extended an invitation to the Japan-Philippines Parliamentary Friendship League (JPPFL) held here on Thursday.
The House leader said that this could also be an opportunity for the Japanese lawmakers to witness the contribution made by the various assistance programs of the Japanese government.
“I really hope our friends from the Japanese Parliament could visit us in the Philippines as this would go a long way to further deepen the mutually-beneficial bilateral relations that the two countries have nurtured over the past decades,” Romualdez said.
“It would likewise provide a venue for us to exchange ideas on the best parliamentary practices as well as innovative approaches to the common challenges facing our respective countries amid present developments in the region and the world,” he added.
Romualdez said that a good time for their Japanese counterparts to visit is in July, as the 67th anniversary of the normalization of the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan will be celebrated in that month.
“That would be the best time for the visit of our Japanese friends as it would lend symbolic significance to another milestone in our bilateral relations. But if that is not possible, they would be most welcome anytime,” he noted.
“One thing is sure, they can expect to receive the famous Filipino hospitality to reciprocate the warm reception they gave us, along with the successful formalization of agreements on various areas of mutual cooperation, during President Marcos’ working visit to Japan,” he added.
Marcos during the meeting with the JPPFL thanked the Japanese lawmakers for supporting the provision of assistance provided to the Philippines, particularly projects over the southern parts of the country as this support the government’s peacekeeping efforts.
He also lauded Japan’s willingness to open its doors for Filipino workers.
“It has been a critical part of our peace process. It is a process that we have been undertaking for many, many years and I think and finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, the participation of the Japanese support in that peace process has been invaluable,” Marcos said.
“Our countrymen are unanimous in their expressions of their own gratitude for how they have been accepted into the workforce — of the Japanese workforce — and into the society, of the fabric of Japanese society,” he added.
Romualdez and other key lawmakers like Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, former president and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Senator Mark Villar were part of Marcos’ delegation to Japan.
Today is the third day of Marcos’ official visit to Japan. He is expected to stay until February 12, meeting the press and the Filipino community before going back to Manila.