Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is in Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later on Feb. 9 to affirm deeper economic and security cooperation amid China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
Japan is considering providing annually more than 200 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in aid to the Philippines for its infrastructure development, government sources say, with the two countries trying to bolster their economic ties.
The Philippines is hoping to deport the suspects behind a string of robberies in Japan by the second week of February in time for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s visit to the country, a senior Philippine government official said on Jan. 30.