Aquino to lead welcome for Japanese emperor, empress on Tuesday

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday will lead the country in welcoming Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, Malacañang announced on Sunday.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the visit of the Japanese couple is important since 2016 is the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Philippines.

Japan occupied the Philippines from 1942 and 1945 during the second World War.

Coloma said President Aquino has acknowledged that in Japan and its people, “we have found steadfast partners and friends in the truest sense of the word” as concretely manifested by its being the largest contributor of Official Development Assistance to the Philippines.

Japan is also one of the leading international advocates of the peace process in Mindanao, Coloma said.

"Moreover, Japan has provided significant assistance to the Philippines in terms of improving urban transportation and in providing relief to calamity victims,” he added.

”On a personal note, the President recalls that when he accompanied his mother, then President Corazon C. Aquino, during her visit to Japan in 1986, Emperor Akihito’s father, then Emperor Hirohito, even conversed with him and advised him to take care of his parents,” the Palace official.

”He notes that Japan was one of the countries that provided robust support to the Philippines’s newly reclaimed democracy 30 years ago,” Coloma said.

The visit of the Japanese emperor and empress will be from January 26 to 30.

The couple will attend events in Manila on January 27 and 28 and will then visit Caliraya and Los Baños in Laguna on January 29.

The emperor and empress will also visit memorial sites of Filipino and Japanese veterans in Laguna.

This will be the first visit of the Japanese emperor and empress to the Philippines. They visited the Philippines in 1962 when they were still crown prince and princess.