By Ronron
October 4, 2007
Japanese Ambassador to Manila Makoto Katsura on Thursday paid a courtesy call to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno at the latter’s office in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
The visit is part of the envoy’s routine as being new to the country, having just arrived last September 20, replacing Ryuichiro Yamazaki.
“We discussed the joint efforts between Japan and the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao, what the new Ambassador hopes to pursue in the near future. He has informed me that he intends to visit Mindanao shortly,” Puno told Camp Crame reporters after his one-hour talk with Katsura.
Noting the ongoing Japanese-assisted projects in Mindanao, Puno expressed confidence that Katsura will pursue all these.
“The projects of Japan in Mindanao are quick-result projects, short-timeframe projects. Immediate impact is actually the objective of the Japanese-assisted projects in Mindanao right now, and they are trying to help the capacity of local governments to implement projects in that sense,” Puno said.
The DILG Secretary said that in turn, he “promised and assured him of our continued support.”
“We, in general, agreed on a common effort to try to improve local government capabilities within the troubled areas in Mindanao. They have already been doing this of course for some time,” he said.
Aside from the assistance, Puno said he also discussed with Katsura the ongoing peace efforts of the government for Mindanao.
“We discussed the status of the peace negotiations. I informed him about the latest agreement that are in place and the issues that need to be resolved,” Puno said.
Puno said that when Katsura pushes through with his visit in Mindanao, he has offered “assistance and whatever help we can extend to them in terms of their familiarizing themselves with the situation” there.
Katsura did not issue any statement to the media after his visit./DMS
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment