PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. will leave for Tokyo on Friday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Japan Commemorative Summit, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said yesterday.
Espiritu, in a briefing, said the President is also expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and attend the Asia Zero Emissions Community forum with Japan and Australia on the sidelines of the summit which also marks the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan relations.
He said a planned reciprocal access agreement between Philippine and Japanese forces, which is similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement between Manila and Washington, is not part of the agenda of the visit, but some business agreements may be signed during the trip.
Espiritu said the President’s attendance to the commemorative summit is important because Japan is one of ASEAN’s first dialogue partners and “one of the most dynamic (partners).”
He said the summit’s main objective is also to announce Japan “as a comprehensive strategic partner of ASEAN — a thing that was already confirmed during the last summit of ASEAN in Jakarta.”
Espiritu said the summit would also tackle a number of issues including security matters such as defense and transnational crime and mutual legal assistance, mutual economic activities and cultural and people-to-people activities.
He said cooperation activities of ASEAN through the years would also be reviewed and recent developments that have bearing on the regional group such as issues concerning the South China Sea, East China Sea, Myanmar, North Korea and other international developments would also be discussed.
Asked if the President would raise during the summit China’s latest acts of aggression in the West Philippine Sea, and its possible inclusion in the ASEAN-Japan statement, he said a “joint statement is not being negotiated by the leaders.”
He said it is likely that the incident would be mentioned since “they will be talking about international developments and regional developments, and among them are developments in the South China Sea and East China Sea.”
He said the content of a communiqué would depend on developments during negotiations of statements and on the dynamics of the meeting.
VISION STATEMENT
Espiritu said two documents are expected to be issued during the summit — one on the joint vision statement of ASEAN and Japan, and one on implementation plan for that joint statement.
The joint vision statement covers the three pillars of ASEAN, namely political-security matters which include defense issues, transnational crime and etcetera; economic issues such as trade and investment, and climate change; and socio-cultural and people-to-people exchange issues.
The summit officially opens on December 16 with dinner hosted by the Prime Minister to be followed by the opening session on the morning of December 17, and the review of ASEAN-Japan relations and discussion of international and regional developments.
It would be followed by a working lunch where the leaders are expected to talk about “people-to-people activities between ASEAN and Japan” such as student and youth exchange, art and cultural cooperation and sports cooperation; and the last leaders’ session that would focus on the ASEAN-Japan economic partnership. The day would end with a pre-Gala commemorative lighting ceremony at Azabudai hills and a gala dinner at Okura hotel.
Marcos will meet with the Japanese prime minister on December 15. Espiritu said details are not available yet. Marcos and Kishida last month agreed to start negotiations for the proposed reciprocal access agreement (RAA) which is expected to help in maintaining peace and stability in the region.
On December 17, Marcos will participate in the Asia Zero Emissions Community forum with other leaders and countries led by Japan and Australia to discuss the commitment to lower carbon gas emissions.
Espiritu said the 45-minute forum is important to the Philippines which is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
“We are committed to the outcome of the COP28 meeting and this will also be an opportunity for us to request for support for our bid to host the Board of loss and damage fund,” he added. The Philippines is advocating to host the “Loss and Damage Fund” headquarters and to be part of the board.
Espiritu said the President will also have at least two business meetings to be led by the Department of Trade and Industry to discuss the status of investment pledges and agreements that were signed during his visit to Tokyo in February.
He said there will be no meeting with the Filipino community during the trip.
Espiritu said the President would bring with him a “lean delegation” that includes First Lady Liza Marcos, Speaker Martin Romualdez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Presidential Adviser on Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go, Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil, and some foreign affairs and trade officials.
