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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Duterte to discuss SCS concerns with Japan’s Abe

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President Rodrigo Duterte will discuss issues concerning the disputed South China Sea with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit to Japan next week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

In a press briefing, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo Montealegre said the President is set to meet with Abe on May 31 on the sidelines of a business forum in Tokyo. It will be their seventh meeting since 2016.

“[The meeting] will be an opportunity for the two leaders to take stock of the progress of our strengthened strategic partnership in such areas as defense and security, economic cooperation, infrastructure development, the entry of Filipino skilled workers in Japan, [and the] Japanese assistance for the development of the Bangsamoro region,” Montealegre said.

The two countries’ top officials will also exchange views on “regional issues of mutual concern, including the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea,” he added.

The DFA official said the South China Sea, which has been locked in a long-standing maritime dispute between the Philippines and China, has also been a mutual concern for both Duterte and Abe.

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Even though it is not one of the six claimant countries who have signified claims in the disputed waterways, Japan still considers the South China Sea crucial to international trade.

“So, the Philippines, for its part, has always affirmed its commitment to uphold the principles of freedom of navigation and overflight, freedom of commerce and other lawful activities, the exercise of self-restraint and the peaceful resolution of disputes,” Montealegre said. 

Duterte will visit Tokyo for Nikkei’s 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia, where he will deliver a keynote address.

“The President will likely assert Asia’s role in charting its own future even as we affirmed the larger international frameworks and mechanisms that have given birth through the Asian century we now enjoy,” he said.

“He will likely also highlight how addressing domestic imperatives provides the conditions by which we will collectively shape Asia’s future,” he added.

The Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia is an annual meeting held in Tokyo, which gathers government and business leaders to share their respective assessment of Asia’s prospects and regional direction.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith are expected to attend and address the conference.

The deputy prime ministers of Vietnam and Singapore will also be in attendance along with ministers from Japan, Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Philippine Navy officials said the country is set to acquire three multi-purpose attack craft (MPAC) armed with the Rafael Advanced Defense Ltd. Spike-ER (extended range) surface-to-surface missile system this year.

“We have another three (in the process of) building, and they are expected to be delivered this year. They will also be armed with the Spike-ER missiles,” PN flag officer-in-command Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad said, shortly after the launch of the missile frigate, BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea Thursday.

Construction of the MPACs, will be called the Mark IV, started in November 2018.

Empedrad said the builders of the MPACs are the same as that of the previous Mark II and III.

The PN’s three Mark III MPACs were constructed by the Subic-based Propmech Corp. and activated on May 22, 2017.

These boats can cruise up to 45 knots and are armed with remotely-controlled .50-caliber machine guns aside from the Spike-ER missiles.

Armed Force chief Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. said the acquisition of modern naval platforms was part of ongoing efforts to ensure the country’s territorial integrity, and should not be seen as a buildup in the wake of ongoing tensions in the South China Sea.

“The objective of our ongoing modernization program is to come up with a very credible and world-class AFP that the Filipino people will be proud of. Those [tensions] are just incidental but our overall

intention, of course, is to ensure we maintain our territorial integrity and that we are able to represent an armed forces that can be at par with other Armed Forces in other countries,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English during the briefing for the launch of the BRP Jose Rizal.

Madrigal said these ships will be able to support Filipino fishermen engaged in their lawful occupation in the country’s territorial waters.

The BRP Jose Rizal was formally launched at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea Thursday morning.

The ship, which is expected to be delivered to the Philippines by HHI in September 2020, will be armed with an Oto Melara 76mm Super Rapid main gun, an Aselsan SMASH 30mm remote-controlled secondary cannon, anti-submarine torpedoes, and anti-air and ship missiles.

It is also equipped with Hanwha Systems’ Naval Shield combat management system (CMS), which integrates all shipboard sensors and weapons and decides which is ideal to deal with any incoming threat.

This system can also detect and track about 4,000 targets and is used in various configurations by the Republic of Korea Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Indonesian Navy.

The Philippines and HHI signed a P16-billion contract for two missile-armed frigates, with another P2 billion set aside for its weapon systems and munitions in October 2016.

Navy spokesman Capt. Jonathan Zata, said these frigates will help secure the country’s maritime chokepoints or primary sea routes used for trade, logistics, and naval operations for all forms of threats.  With PNA

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