ANG PH-JAPAN VFA AY ISANG ‘WORK IN PROGRESS’ AYON KAY SPEAKER ROMUALDEZ

Sinabi ni Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez na ang inaasahang Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), o ang katulad na kasunduan sa pagitan ng mga pamahalaan ng Pilipinas at Japan ay isang "a work in progress". 

Ang pagtataya ay sinabi ni Romualdez sa isang panayam ng mga Pilipinong mamamahayag sa Japan noong Biyernes. 

Ang pinuno ng Kapulungan ay kasama ni Pangulong Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. sa opisyal na delegasyon sa kanyang limang araw na pagbisita sa Japan. 

"I think that's ongoing. That's ongoing...that's what they call 'a work in progress'. So there's always conversations along those lines. And lines of communications are very, very wide open especially after the visit," ani Romualdez. 

Ayon kay Romualdez, ang kasalukuyang pagbisita ay resulta ng unang pagkikita nina Marcos at Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, noong nakaraang taon sa New York sa United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). 

"This is an offshoot of their first meeting, which I was present in New York. After the [UNGA] opening, we had lunch with the newly-minted, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in New York, and the phrase that or the words that they used was that economic security. So you can figure out this with those two words," ayon pa kay Speaker Romualdez, habang nagbibigay siya ng kasaysayan sa isinasagawang pag-uusap tungkol sa seguridad at depensa sa pagitan ng dalawang bansa. 

Sa pag-asang ang pag-uusap ay magreresulta sa paglikha ng isang VFA, sinabi ni Romualdez na: "I think that’s the general direction. We’re all in the same region and we're all actually experiencing the same issues and concerns and the President always says he knows...he always works multilaterally but that's not without exception to having bilateral agreements, for instance, Philippines and Japan that would somehow effect like a trilateral agreement." 

Sa pagbabanggit ng halimbawa, sinabi niya na: "That is existing, you know, with the US or, you know, with other countries. So you don't necessarily have to just be the Philippines with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) but you have to work individual countries." 

Naniniwala si Romualdez na tatalakayin nina Marcos at Fumio ang kasunduan ng "broad strokes". 

"There's a general understanding that that's the direction but it was always, you know, founded and on fact that to usher in an environment of peace and stability. But that's what it's all about, and I guess it's the creation of balance," aniya. 

"So when it comes to peace, stability, we all know that kailangan talaga (these are necessary), these security arrangements because this stability in the region promote prosperity, and that's the bedrock of any strong economy," giit niya. 

Hinggil naman sa posibleng reaksyon ng ibang mga bansa tulad ng Tsina, sa kasunduan sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Japan, sinabi ni Romualdez na malinaw ang polisiya ni Marcos sa usaping panglabas: it's all about peace. 

"The President has made his foreign policy very clear. He is a friend of all and the enemy to none, so he doesn't want…The President feels that peace is the most important ingredient in any foreign policy declaration," aniya. 

"Now, what we're doing is this..It's also the capacity-building for the part of the Philippines. In fact, we are in the winning side of all of these types of arrangements or agreements because as you know, we still are a bit challenged when it comes to our defense capabilities and whatnot. So we definitely would be the most benefited one," pagtatapos niya. #

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