Newsbreak Online - President Aquino upsets Japan

While many find President Aquino's candor refreshing--in contrast to the ice queen Gloria Macapagal Arroyo--it has its limits. As leader of the country, every word he says counts and is taken seriously.

So imagine the chagrin of the Japanese embassy officials here when, one fine morning, they read President Aquino's remarks on political developments in their country which, in effect, showed the instability caused by leadership changes.

A reporter, in a news briefing after the Armed Forces Command Conference in Camp Aguinaldo early this week, asked the President to comment on the implications on the Philippines of the loss of Japan’s ruling party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), in the elections in the Upper House.

The President initially evaded the question, saying, “You’ve put me on the spot. If I answer that truthfully, I might be causing diplomatic tensions between Japan and ourselves.”

But he decided to answer the question, first in reference to the frequent change in leadership in Japan and its impact on bilateral ties with the Philippines.

The Prime Minister would serve for two years, and lately they have not been serving [for that long]. That obviously makes it difficult for us to deal with them. There cannot be long-term programs and policies that we can tackle. But hopefully they will settle this situation soon and that can lead to better cooperation among our countries,” he said.

Since 2006, Japan’s prime ministers—Shinzo Abe, Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso—served only an average of one year, while Hatoyama served only for almost nine months before giving way to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Well, there's more. President Aquino referred to Japan as the "second biggest ODA (official development assistance) donor" when, in fact, they're our biggest source of ODA.

The Japanese are not making any official fuss about this. After all, the President is brand new on the job. (Newsbreak)

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