Members of the House of Representatives and officials of the LDP International Bureau-- Masahiko Shibayama, Takao Ochi, Hirotaka Ishihara, and Keisuke Suzuki paid a courtesy call on Mr. Alberto Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, a guest of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a Tokyo hotel on April 5, 2006. This year, the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relationships between Japan and the Philippines is being celebrated as Friendship Year. The Japanese delegation, in particular Mr. Ishihara, who is well versed on Philippine issues, exchanged views on a variety of matters from bilateral relations to the regional situation in Southeast Asia. Since the Philippines will assume the Chairmanship of ASEAN this year, their meeting was both friendly and a very valuable exchange of views that served to strengthen the already strong relationship between the two nations.
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