MANY Filipinos, especially politicians, law enforcement and business community members, were shocked to learn about the killing of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
He had a name recall as he served longest among other prime ministers of Japan. Abe’s tenure overlapped those of the terms of three Philippine presidents — Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno Aquino Jr. and Rodrigo Duterte.
A month after he was re-elected as prime minister in 2012, the Philippines was one of the first countries which his foreign minister visited. A nationalist, Abe won the re-election amidst increasing Chinese air and naval activities near the Senkaku Islands which Japan also claims. Abe wrote an op-ed piece warning that the South China Sea would transform into a “Lake Beijing” and that Japan, the US, India and Australia should form a “democratic security diamond” to safeguard the maritime domain from Indian Ocean to Western Pacific.
Months later, Abe outlined his four policy initiatives to the Philippines — develop vibrant economies together, promote maritime cooperation, strengthen assistance to Mindanao peace process and further promote human exchanges.
But it was during the administration of President Duterte when Abe hit the right spot at enhancing Philippine-Japan relations.
Using personal diplomacy, Abe befriended Duterte, calling the maverick Philippine president a “rock star.”
Duterte even invited Abe to his home in Davao City, which the Japanese leader gladly obliged. He was the first and only foreign head of government to visit Duterte in his home.
During the 2017 visit of Abe, Manila and Tokyo became “strategic partners.” Japan pledged ¥1 trillion over five years. By 2022, the pledge was fully fulfilled and even delivered a higher amount of ¥1.3 trillion, former Philippine deputy chief of mission and now DFA Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez said.
Duterte also visited Japan four times, including a trip during the enthronement of Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
“It was also during the Duterte administration that the Joint Committee in Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation mechanism was initiated, and was very successful in fast-tracking Japanese assistance for the Build-Build-Build programs of the Philippine government,” Meñez added.
Foreign policy analysts called the blossoming of the bilateral ties as the “Golden Age of Philippine-Japan relations.”
Image credits: AP/Kazuhiro Nogi