Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe arrived in Davao City Thursday evening as part of his two-day State Visit to the Philippines.
They were welcomed by Davao Region officials such as Davao del Norte Governor Anthony del Rosario, Compostella Valley Governor Jayvee Uy, Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang, Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Cagas, and Davao Occidental Governor Claude Bautista.
Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio also sent a representative, Councilor Jimmy Dureza, to meet the Japanese officials.
Abe is the first head of state to visit the country during Duterte’s administration and also the first to visit the President hometown.
“Dakong value kaayo ang pagbisita niya diri ilabi na sa investments or grants na ibungad sa Japan kanato para sa tibuok nasod,” Governor Uy told reporters in a chance interview Thursday evening.
Uy said that friendship between Japan and Philippines has been strengthened by the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Abe to the Philippines.
“It is our pride and honor that we are visited by the prime minister,” he said.
Breakfast at Duterte’s home
Prime Minister Abe also visited the home of President Duterte in Davao City and took breakfast there on Friday morning.
“Abe enjoyed,” Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said.
Go said that Abe spent 45 minutes in Duterte’s home and 10 minutes of these in the President’s humble room.
“We showed him how the President enjoys the comfort of his bed, including his old and favorite mosquito net,” Go said.
He added that the two leaders ate local delicacies such as durian, puto, biko, suman, kutsinta, monggo soup, and suha.
“Doing it for the Filipinos and the country as he [PM Abe] is the first foreign and high-ranking government official to visit Philippines and Davao, and first to visit the President’s house,” Duterte’s common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña said.
PM’s wife visited Japanese Cemetery
The wife of Japanese Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Japanese Cemetery in Mintal to pay respect to the remains of her countrymen in the Philippines during the Second World War.
Avanceña accompanied Ms. Akie Abe to the Japanese graveyard where 300 of Davao City’s first Japanese residents are buried.
They were also accompanied by Bertola Medialdea, wife of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, and Yuko Ishikawa, wife of Japanese Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa.
When they arrived at the graveyard, Mrs. Abe offered her prayers before the Tower of Japanese Residents who passed away during the war and the Muyu Monument.
Avanceña explained to Ms. Abe that Duterte had ordered the construction of the Muyu Monument three years ago.
“The President is very grateful for the help that the Japanese government, through Prime Minister Abe and Madame Akie Abe, are extending to us Filipinos and our country,” Avanceña pointed out.
The words carved on the monument are: “The person who loved the Philippines and loved Davao is here now” and “Every human being is my brother, my sister, my child.”
Mental Cemetery was built in 1910 by Kyouzaburo Ohta, the Japanese owner of vast abaca plantations that drew Japanese workers to Davao City, and some Japanese graves were dug up by Filipinos looking for treasure after the war.
The Muyu Monument serves as a marker for those graves.
Japanese PM named rescued PH eagle
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also named a two-year-old rescued Philippine eagle after Japan’s traditional spring attraction, Sakura, also known as cherry blossoms.
The naming rite was led by President Duterte on Friday at Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City.
“This eagle, through the support of the Japanese Government, will be nursed back to health by the Philippine Eagle Foundation; in gratitude, the eagle will be named ‘Sakura,’” Philippine Eagle Foundation Inc. Executive Director Dennis Salvador said.
It can be recalled that Sakura, was located at the foot of the Pantaron Range, the boundaries of Talaingod, Davao del Norte and San Fernando, Bukidnon, was turned over to the Philippine Eagle Foundation December 12, 2016 after sustaining a gunshot injury.
According to Salvador, the bullet is still lodged in its groin area, but Sakura is now recuperating.
“We are still assessing if they should remove the bullet through an operation as it is already embedded in the eagle’s tissues,” Salvador said.
With the adoption, Salvador added that the Japanese government pledged to donate at least ₱125,000 annually for the next five years to help Sakura’s rehabilitation and sustenance.
Japan is the first foreign government to adopt an eagle, Salvador added.
In addition to the adoption of Sakura, Salvador said the Japanese government also helped in building the education facility at the Philippine Eagle Center.
After the naming rites, Prime Minister Abe and his wife left Davao City on Friday afternoon, ending his two-day official visit to the Philippines.
They are due to land in Sydney, Australia on Friday evening for a short visit to Australia to discuss regional security, trade and economic opportunities with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as part of a six-day diplomatic tour which takes them to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
