Philippines and Japan sign Agreement for 8TH Non-project Grant Assistance
from Japan
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PR-051-09, 13 February 2009—Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo and Japanese Ambassador
Makoto Katsura signed and exchanged the Notes, Agreed Minutes on Procedural Details, and Record of
Discussions on the 2008 Non-Project Grant Assistance (NPGA) amounting to JPY 700.0 million, in a
ceremony held at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
NPGA is an untied commodity grant which aims to promote economic and structural adjustment efforts, as
well as mitigation of economic difficulties of the recipient country.
The grant will be utilized through commodity importation, with the assistance of a procurement agent, and the
earmarking of the countervalue fund for the implementation of economic and social development projects in
various regions including Mindanao.
Since 1991, a total of JPY 15.1 billion in seven tranches has been extended to the Philippines by the
Japanese Government through the NPGA mechanism.
The signing ceremony was attended by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of
Finance and the Embassy of Japan. (photo by: Benjamin Remo, DFA-PISU)
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DFA-OAVS, MIAA and POEA sign Memorandum of Agreement
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PH-023-09,13 February 2009—Foreign Affairs Undersecretary and Chairman of the Overseas Absentee
Voting Secretariat (OAVS) Rafael E. Seguis, Philippine Overseas and Employment (POEA) Administrator Atty.
Jennifer Jardin-Manalili, and Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commisioner Nicodemo T. Ferrer, sign
the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
The MOA pertains to the agreement of the said parties to establish a Pre-Departure Registration Center for
departing Overseas Filipino Workers at the POEA, to register OFWs as Overseas Absentee Voters. (photo by
Benjamin Remo, DFA-PISU)
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DFA Transport Service
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Title: DFA Transport Service
Location: Board Lounge 12th Flr. DFA Building
Description: Opening of Technical and Financial Proposals
Start Time: 14:00
Date: 2009-02-25
End Time: 16:30
Title: DFA Transport Service
Location: Board Lounge 12th Flr. DFA Building
Description: Last Day of Submission of Bid Requirements
Start Time: 00:00
Date: 2009-02-25
End Time: 15:00
Title: DFA Transport Service
Location: Board Lounge 12th Flr. DFA Building
Description: Pre-Bid Conference
Start Time: 00:00
Date: 2009-02-13
End Time: 00:00
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Ambassador Gaa clarifies Inquirer report on US Military Aid conditions on the
Philippines
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PR-050-09, 12 February 2009—Responding to a Philippine Daily Inquirer news article concerning the failure
of the Philippines to meet military aid conditions set by the U.S. government, Philippine Ambassador to the
United States Willy C. Gaa said, “I would like to stress that the U.S. government has not made any statement
that the Philippine government had failed to meet any of the three conditions earlier set by the U.S.
government on its military assistance to the Philippines. The Inquirer article is merely stating the opinion of
some organizations who are of the opinion that the Philippines had not met the conditions and are lobbying to
have the U.S. Congress cut off security and defense assistance to our country.”
“In fact, if we take a close look at the U.S. Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2008, the State
Department acknowledged the Philippine government’s intensified efforts to resolve extra-judicial killing
cases and promote the rule of law. On the legislative side, U.S. Senator Inouye, who is the current chair of the
Senate Appropriations Committee, in his letter to President Arroyo acknowledged the progress made by the
Philippine Government that has led to a drastic decrease in incidents of extra-judicial killings. This issue has
been very important for both our governments and we have maintained close engagement with the U.S. State
Department and the U.S. Congress, particularly in ways by which our two countries can cooperate to
effectively address this issue.” Ambassador Gaa added. END
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Ambassador Maria Theresa P. Lazaro meets with CERN Nuclear Research Institute
officials in Geneva
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PR-049-09, 12 February 2009 - In her visit to Geneva, Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland Maria Theresa P.
Lazaro met with officials of the world’s leading nuclear research institute, the CERN, or European
Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. CERN invented the World Wide Web (www) that is used today
in the internet. CERN also completed recently the world’s largest energy particle accelerator, the 27-kilometer
diameter LHC or Large Hadron Collider, intended to crash particle beams to test various theories of high-
energy physics. It is funded by and built in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over
100 countries.
During their meeting, Ambassador Lazaro requested CERN officials to help Filipino scientists and engineers
advance their knowledge. The CERN officials expressed their willingness to further develop both countries’
scientific and technical cooperation through organized research projects. Physicists, engineers and
specialized technicians of universities and scientific institutions may participate in research projects at CERN
in the field of experimental and theoretical physics, accelerator and detector engineering and other related
fields of science and technology such as electronics, computing and medical physics. END
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Philippine Relations with Nanjing Enhanced
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PR-048-09, 12 February 2009 – Philippine Consul General to Shanghai Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez led
a delegation from the Philippine Consulate General to visit Nanjing on 5 February 2009.
During the visit, the officials from the Consulate had a meeting with Director-General of the Nanjing Foreign
Affairs Office Sun Jiaxin, Deputy-Director General of the Nanjing Municipal Tourism Bureau Jin Weidong and
officials from the Nanjing University and the Southeast University to discuss ways to improve bilateral
relations.
Both sides agreed that in order to improve bilateral relations, there is a need to come up with a mechanism to
identify projects or objectives that both sides can implement together which are “doable” and “quantifiable”. It
was therefore agreed that every year, both sides would try to come up with an agreed list of projects and
periodically meet to follow-up implementation.
For 2009, the following projects were discussed — sister-city proposal between Quezon City and Nanjing
City, visits of Nanjing officials to the Philippines, promotion of twinning of universities and the possibility of
organizing joint programs in student and faculty exchanges and English as a Second Language Program.
Both sides also agreed to cooperate in promoting tourism. The Philippines will participate in the Nanjing
Travel Expo on 21-22 March 2009. For their part, the Nanjing Municipal Tourism Bureau will visit the
Philippines in March and will conduct promotions in the Philippines. It was agreed that both sides will push
their respective travel agents to establish linkages and develop tour packages. Media familiarization tours will
be organized to promote travel destinations.
Nanjing City is the capital of China’s Jiangsu Province. It is one of the ancient capitals of China and enjoys a
worldwide reputation for its history and culture. Nanjing is two (2) hours away by train from Shanghai and is
one of important industrial bases in East China with strong industrial economic strength, accounting for
about 1% of China’s total in terms of gross industrial capability. Nanjing has built up a comprehensive
industrial system with seven pillar industries namely: petrochemical, electronics, manufacturing, automobile,
steel and power, information technology, petroleum and chemical. END
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