Q: [inaudible]
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I think you saw the wrap-up, mayroon ng – I think everything went according to plan at saka beyond kasi maraming nabago na hindi namin ine-expect na naging proposal na galing sa mga Japanese corporations lalo.
Iyong sa government-to-government na pag-usapan, mukha namang ano – mukha namang natuloy lang ‘yung sinabi ko sa inyo mga specifics na binalikan natin. I think there was – of all of the projects that were on the pipeline, I think we were able to finalize all of them on this trip. So that’s a good result I think from this trip.
The other thing is I’ve been receiving reports from our team in Turkey and malala talaga napakabigat ng pangyayari. Marami na silang natulungan. They set up already a hospital at marami na silang na-rescue. They still keep going on. Now I’m trying to find a way kasi hindi lang naman Turkey ang tinamaan, Syria pati. At alam naman natin ang kalagayan sa Syria hindi napakaganda. That’s why I’m hoping that we will be able to do something to help them.
So okay sige let’s open the floor.
Q: Sir, good afternoon po. Sir, can you share with us how much is the value of the 35 agreements that were signed — ?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Of the?
Q: 35 agreements po sir, the deals po?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Oh my good question. Kasi ‘yung mga pinirmahan – well there are ones, there are some that are definite na mayroong figures, ‘yung sa G2G. Doon sa government – doon sa private sector, iyong iba kasi may definite number, ‘yung iba wala pa eh. So we’ll try and find you ano an overall ano – an overall figure to see what more or less the value of the contracts that were signed.
Q: Sir, a good follow-up on that sir, when do we start these investments rolling in the [inaudible], within this year po ba?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: When will?
Q: When do we expect for these investments to start rolling?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Some of them have already begun. Some have already begun. Kasi marami diyan nag-shot down ng operation na they will return but with a promise na ‘yung kanilang dating plano i-expand nila.
So very ano but ‘yung sa G2G nandiyan na, it’s available. We have to just put together packages para mag-avail.
Doon sa private side as I said mayroon doon sa mga napirmahan na may definite na project, may definite na amount pero ‘yung iba wala pa. So we will have to try and estimate – get you a better estimate.
Q: Sir one last po, can we expect more investments from the Japanese after your trip? More investment sir do you expect more?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: What do you mean from the trip?
Q: After the trip sir, do you expect that there will be more investments to come?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I hope so but that’s why we’ll keep doing this. Marami kasi – the Japanese have been very forward-looking in the sense na mayroon talaga silang mga pinaplano that are very new, taking full advantage of the new technologies.
And then ‘yung kanilang mga initiatives sa climate change are very, very well – very well advanced. Kaya’t ‘yun sa palagay ko marami rin tayong magagawa on that area.
Q: Okay, sir. Thank you po.
Q: Mr. President, napag-usapan niyo po ba ni Prime Minister Kishida ‘yung [inaudible] Philippines and Japan?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Very briefly dahil binanggit lang niya sinagot there is a – that it’s all under study. And siguro naman I don’t – it depends really on the Philippines if we want to go and accelerate the joint – what we have already. Mayroon tayong agreement diyan. That’s why we have exercises together. Binigyan tayo ng barko ng Chinese – ah ng Japanese sorry. Binigyan tayo ng barko ng Japanese para sa Coast Guard para tulungan din ‘yung ating pagbantay.
So what was really mentioned was that can we now move forward with that? Ang kanilang proposal is to do some improvements sa Subic also for the Coast Guard para mas maganda ang ating mga bases. But the problem is that again it cannot be considered as you will know a foreign base. So we will still have to finalize the details on that on how they want to do it. And kung agreeable tayo, ‘di ‘yun ang gugustuhin natin.
Q: Thank you po.
Q: Good evening sir, ah good evening — good afternoon, sir. Just a question it was mentioned during your bilateral summit with the Prime Minister that the Philippines want to increase Japan’s cooperation with the US as well. What specific ways do you want that to take shape?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: What to?
Q: What specific ways do you want that to take shape the cooperation – defense cooperation with Japan and the US and the Philippines?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Well, it’s just a question of agreeing because we really haven’t talked about it in detail. It’s just been a proposal. Mayroon – while there is the equivalent of VFA for the Japanese, there is another proposal from the Japanese on a US-Japan-Philippines tripartite agreement. Iyon bago ‘yun.
So that we really have to discuss what is – what exactly does that entail and of course we have to talk to the Americans also para makita kung ano ba talagang roles that are going to be played should there be a tripartite agreement. So ‘yung proposal is in concept pa lang, in principle pa lang. We really don’t have – we don’t really have details yet.
So siguro sometime down the road we will sit down with our Japanese counterparts and American counterparts at tingnan talaga natin what is it really that they want. We don’t as I said – it’s only been proposed in principle and that’s as far as it goes so far.
But we’ll go back – we’ll go back… Lahat ito we will have to go back kasi nakita mo naman ‘yung schedule 20 minutes, 30 minutes lang eh. Iyong sa government mayroong – at least medyo mahaba-haba. But even that was only a 45-minute na meeting. So we opened many, many subjects. Now we have to go back and go into the details of all of those different subjects.
Q: One follow-up lang sir on the potential VFA or reciprocal access agreement, you mentioned that it also depends on the Philippine position. In principle sir are you open to that? Do you support that?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I think in general if it will be of help to the Philippines in terms of protecting, for example our fishermen, protecting our maritime territory, if it’s going to help, then that – if the results of our own study, siyempre pag-aaralan pa natin ‘yan eh kung talagang makakatulong. If kung talagang makakatulong, I don’t see why we should not adopt it.
Now there is also the – we have to be careful also because we do not want to appear provocative. Parang imbes na pinapakalma natin ang sitwasyon sa South China Sea ay ginagawa natin mas magiging mainit ‘di ba. That’s not what we want.
Ang iniisip ko lang ay ‘yung ating mga fishermen kailangan maprotektahan, kailangan maliwanag na tayo sa Pilipinas talagang we are patrolling our waters and making sure that it is well-recognized na ‘yan ang talagang territory talaga ng – maritime territory talaga ng Pilipinas ‘yan.
That’s the intent. As long as we – if we can achieve that, if it is appropriate, if it does not constitute the danger of increasing tensions, then it might be useful for the Philippines.
Q: Sir, any timeline – any specific timeline —
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Wala pa.
Q: — to open talks?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Ah to open talks? As soon as we get back, we will start talking to the – siguro we will talk already to the Embassy of Japan. And then we’ll start – in terms of the tripartite agreement, we will have to also talk as I said to the Americans. So tingnan muna natin. Hindi pa natin alam kung ano ‘yung detalye doon sa kanilang pinaplano.
Q: Thank you, sir.
Q: Hi sir, magandang hapon. Sir, may natukoy na po bang apat na lugar doon sa additional EDCA, doon sa EDCA po, sir?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Alam naman niyo pinag-aaralan natin. Malapit na ‘yan. We’ll – I think when I get back I will have a command conference and we will decide once and for all. And we’ll announce. But [inaudible] take too long.
Q: Pero sir may mga nag-aalala daw po na baka ito po’y provocative doon sa ibang mga claimants sa South China Sea?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Iyon din, lagi kong iniisip ‘yun kasi nga lagi tayong nagsasabi gusto natin ay mapayapa at hindi magulo at may safe passage ang ano…Eh kung tayo ba ang gagawa ng… We will instigate and increase the tensions, eh ‘yun ang talagang dapat nating iwasan. It’s a valid concern and it’s something that we have to pay attention to, that we do not be seen as — anything that we do will not be seen as provocative to anyone and it not be… It will not have the effect of – the opposite effect from what we want which is to make the tensions even higher.
Q: Good afternoon. On Maharlika Fund, is there an interest from Japanese [inaudible] for investment?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Sa?
Q: On Maharlika?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: On what?
Q: Maharlika.
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Ah some of the private corporations, we mentioned it. We have some commitments but I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to name who they are. But they have – there were already three commitments, substantial amount that they are willing to invest in the fund. So we can begin there.
Q: How about [inaudible] ?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I’m sorry?
Q: How about government financial institutions?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: How about?
Q: Government financial institutions?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Iba-iba. Mayroon mga government pero mayroon ding private.
Q: Mr. President, during your working visit in Japan you also promoted the RCEP kahit po hindi pa ‘to nara-ratify. Some are asking hindi kaya too premature po ito at the same time [inaudible] the agri sector or also against the measure because apparently it will go against the goal of self-sufficiency?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Because of?
Q: It will go against the goal of self-sufficiency?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I don’t see. I don’t see the logic in that ano… Actually it will be the contrary because it… If we – right now kung wala tayo sa RCEP, hindi tayo – hindi natin ma-access ang kanilang mga markets. Iyong mga – lalo na ‘yung mga supply chain na available na ibinigay ngayon sa ASEAN. Now, if we – and for some reason mayroong mga nagkakalat na it will – hindi natin maproteksyunan ang ating sarili.
All our markets that are mentioned in RCEP are already open. Walang mabubuksan na bago. In fact, ang mabubuksan lang is to — para sa akin is to the advantage of the Philippines dahil ‘yung mga suplay nga, the supply chains, the different non-traditional suppliers of agricultural inputs, of agricultural commodities ay mayroon – puwede nating ma-access ‘yun. Without RCEP, we cannot do that.
The reason that I talked about RCEP is because I am quite confident na malapit na mapasa ‘yan.
Q: So were [inaudible] to the Senate?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I’m sorry?
Q: You were into lobbying it talaga sir?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: I’m not lobbying it. I’m waiting for it to be ano… No it’s necessary. If you think about it, we are the only ones left na hindi pa napag-ano ng RCEP. So we are leaving ourselves out there isolating ourselves from the free trade zone that ASEAN is. So sayang naman ‘yung opportunity. That’s why I think RCEP will be a good thing.
I think time will prove – yeah, time will prove that it is a – it is to our advantage. Kasi ang habol natin is trade eh, hindi naman ang habol niyan… So we are going to continue to increase our investment in the agricultural value chain. That will make us more competitive. It will not… Having RCEP will allow us to further strengthen our agricultural value chain so we are more competitive. That’s the general principle behind the RCEP.
It opens more trade, more trade. And lagi kong sinasabi ‘di ba walang yumaman na bansa kung hindi dahil sa trade at kailangan we have to involve ourselves in that.
Q: Sir, good afternoon po. Sir, what are the concrete steps that you will do kasi po sinabi po ni Secretary Pascual na it’s up to us para po mag-materialize lahat ng investment plans? So what are the particular steps sir that you will do para po ‘yung mga chokepoints — ?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: How much time do you have? Isa-isa ‘yan. The reason – what we are going to do now – the reasons sabi ko tigil na muna natin itong mga trips because all of us we are going to sit down and we are going to talk about each and every single project that we have talked about in ASEAN, that we talked about in APEC, that we talked about in EU, that we talked about in New York, that we talked about in China and now in Japan.
Lahat ‘yan kailangan natin balikan, isa-isahin natin ano ba talaga dito ‘yung gusto natin, ano ‘yung mas priority, ano ‘yung kailangan nating gawin para [inaudible] ‘to. Marami na tayong mga ideas na nakuha. Mayroon ‘yung mga siyempre sa tourism. There are many suggestions already to open up the procedures [inaudible].
There are some adjustments that are being asked to make in legislation. Then, ‘yung mga IRR ng mga ibang… We already did the changes to the BOT law, we also changed the IRR of the PPP. This is in response to the kind of request and the kind of – like you said it the roadblocks that we can see that are in front of us. So nasimulan na ‘yan. But we still have to go into… Iba-iba ‘yan eh.
Because we talked about — like in Japan, we talked about pretty much lahat eh, agriculture, climate change, energy, digitalization. Lahat nung nakita niyo subject matter ng mga napirmahan. Talagang sakop lahat. So we have to keep – we have to go over it one-by-one, case-to-case and see how it’s going to work.
So that’s what the Secretary I think is referring to. It’s up to us kung talagang i-follow up natin, pagandahin natin ang ano nang husto, eh mabubuo ‘yan. Eh kung basta’t hanggang pirmahan lang eh wala talagang mangyayari diyan.
Q: Sir, ano ‘yung parang pinaka-limits natin sir para galawin sir ‘yung like sabi niyo mga IRR, ‘yung mga legislative measures, sir. Ano ‘yung pinaka-limit natin para huwag bumigay para sa isang investment?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: You have to be more specific than that. That’s too general. Siguro ‘pag may specific na puwede ba nating gawin ‘to o hindi. So I cannot tell you in general. Some things you can do, some things parang mahirap masyado.
Q: Sa Constitution for instance, ownership for instance, are you — ? Sir, pinag-uusapan kasi ‘yung Charter change for instance. So kayo ba sir sorry baka may magtatanong mamaya, but do you have an official stand on that?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Official?
Q: Stand, sir. What do you think of Charter change, sir? Are you in favor of it?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: It’s not a priority for me because maraming ibang kailangang gawin eh. Maraming kailangan – there are so many different – there are so many other things that we need to do first that we can still – we can achieve kung makukuha naman natin ‘yung gusto but within the present – the present constitutional – the way the constitution is written. So we – I think the attempt is – the reason that it’s being talked about is because of the economic provisions. Gusto nga natin magkaroon ng investment kung minsan sagabal ‘yun. Alam naman ninyo ‘yung mga issue diyan, ‘yung mga ownership, appropriation, ownership [inaudible] ‘yung mga ganoon.
But for me, lahat itong mga pinag-usapan kaya nating gawin na hindi palitan ang Saligang Batas.
Q: Sir, good afternoon po. Will the defense agreement between the Philippines and Japan be a stepping stone for foreign defense agreements between other Asian nations that will lead to a NATO-like defense alliance in the region?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good question, it might develop that way. It might develop that way. But NATO is very different from Southeast Asia. You know remember there was already an attempt to have a NATO in Southeast Asia, may SEATO dati. Kaya nabuo ‘yung ASEAN eh kasi ayaw ng mga Asian ng American-led na alliance. So kailangan members lang ng ASEAN. So that’s the…
But yeah Europe is very different from… Europe is different from Southeast Asia. So maybe not quite like NATO. But siyempre it looks like we are strengthening talagang we are strengthening our partnerships. Iba-iba naman.
We have… There are partnerships with ASEAN as a body, there are partnerships with the member states of ASEAN. And I think that’s what going to happen. We’ll just pursue all the multilateral, bilateral connections and relationships and agreements that we can para nga marami tayong kasama, marami tayong kakampi, at mayroon tayong… Kung tayo lang nag-iisa, eh isang boses lang tayo.
Maganda kung mas marami ang sumasang-ayon doon sa ating gusto.
Q: Sir, light topic lang sir. Sir, kumusta po in general ang pagbisita niyo sa Japan? Sabi niyo you were hoping na makabisita man lang, makagala during your free time. Were you able to do that? Saan kayo nakapunta, sir?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Very little. Yeah, there was little time to see, to go outside Tokyo pero sandali lang masyado. We had to go back kaagad. Ganoon naman talaga ‘yan. Hindi naman ‘to – hindi naman ‘to bakasyon eh. We came here to finish very many specific things. And that’s more importantly than my making nakagala, pagala-gala doon sa Japan – more importantly na nagawa talaga natin lahat nung kailangan nating gawin.
Q: Sir, saan banda outside Tokyo?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Ha?
Q: Saan po banda outside Tokyo?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Sa bandang [Nagano?]. We took the train. Ilan lang kami ng mga kaibigan namin and then we went back to Tokyo.
Q: Sir, any plans on Valentine’s Day?
PRESIDENT MARCOS: Good thing you reminded me. I have to do something. Oo nga Valentine’s Day na naman. Aba ang bilis ng panahon. Oh, gosh. Do I have any plans? I do now. Maraming salamat.
— END —
