President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday promised Japanese businessmen in Tokyo that he will ensure corruption-free deals if they invest in the Philippines.
Speaking at a business conference in Tokyo, the President vowed that he would “kill” anything that hampers their businesses in the Philippines, no matter how small or big it is.
“I just assure you that during my time I said there will be no corruption. And every Japanese investor in my country, however small or however big, I can assure you that if there’s any complaint regarding hindrances, obstruction, or outright corruption, let me know,” Duterte said in his speech.
As Philippine officials signed deals with their Japanese counterparts, Secretary General of the Philippine-Japan Economic Cooperation Committee JJ Soriano said 26 agreements were already sealed.
The 19 agreements are worth P300 billion and could generate over 82,000 jobs. The said agreements, cover technology, manufacturing, industrial parks, retail, and food businesses, Soriano said.
“Out of the 26 deals, 19 are letters of intent to do business between Japanese and Filipino firms, while seven are cooperation agreements,” Soriano told the ANC news channel.
The President said he will be ready to give Japanese investors “any hour of the day or night” to hear their complaints.
“You can contact any of the Cabinet members, your Filipino lawyers, or Filipino workers. You can ask an audience with me in 24 hours [and] I will talk to you,” he said.
“Just let me know what your problem is, and we will kill that problem,” he added.
The President also said he was pleased to know about their “strong intention” to invest and expand business operations in the new sectors of the Philippine economy.
He said Japan has been a major source of foreign direct investments, emerging as the second largest trading partner of the Philippines last year.
“We anticipate increased trade and investment flows because of the strong momentum generated by decades of deep economic cooperation. This will be sustained by our natural economic complementarities and accelerated by the current efforts of our governments to lower barriers,” he said.
Duterte, who vowed to eradicate corruption three years ago, reiterated his promise to Japanese investors.
“With our sound macro-economic policies and [ongoing] reforms, we guarantee a competitive and corruption-free, and I repeat, we guarantee a competitive and corruption-free business climate, and a highly-skilled and fast-learning workforce,” he said.
The Palace again denied that the Japan visit was a reward to Cabinet members after the midterm elections, as Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V suggested.
“It is worth mentioning that Cabinet members were prohibited by the President to campaign for the administration candidates during the last elections. It is, therefore, sans logic that they can be rewarded when they were disallowed from contributing to the reason or cause for the grant of the reward,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
“The good Ambassador may have been either innocently speculating for lack of information or may have been misinformed of the nature of the trip of the Cabinet members. The latter’s presence is necessary,” he added.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said there was no need to take disciplinary action against Laurel over his remarks.
“The rebuke should be enough,” said Guevarra, the designated caretaker of the national government while the President is in Japan for working visit, said in a text message to reporters.
Asked if Laurel should be replaced as a consequence of his remarks, Guevarra said: “Let’s wait and see.”
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