THE 2015 YNU FIELD STUDY‐TRIP
In the Philippines

A group of eight students and three professors from the Graduate
school of International Social Sciences went on a field‐study visit to
the Philippines from February 19 to February 28, 2015

The study trip to the Philippines since its inception 2005 has produced fruitful for the
student’s research. After 10 years, we again participated in our IBLAW field study‐trip
with the theme “In Quests for a Sustainable, Prosperous and Peaceful World”. Ourteam, consisting of eight students from Japan, Haiti, Korea and Vietnam, accompany
with two professor, visited many agencies, authorities located in Metro Manila andLeyte Island.
List of Participants
Professors and Staff
SurnameGiven name

M/F

Nationality

1

Kobayashi

Takaaki

M

Japan

Assoc.Prof

2

Kakee

TomokoF

Japan

Assoc.Prof

SurnameGiven name

M/F

Nationality

Tran

Van Long

M

VietnamStudents

1

D2(Group leader)

2

Kimura

Kayo

F

Japan

M1
Assistant G.Leader

3

Pontius

Erskine

F

Haiti

M2

4

Uto

Takayuki

M

Japan

M2

5

Tada

Katsunari

M

Japan

M2

6

Choi

Inchul

M

Korea

M1

7

Nozaki

Taira

M

Japan

U2

8

Kuwabara

Yohei

M

Japan

U1

Reports from students in our study trip are as follows:

REPORTS BY STUDENTS
GROUP REPORTS

The Japan International Cooperate Agency (JICA)

Date and Time: February 20, 09:00 – 11:00H

Meeting place: 40/F Yuchengo Tower, RCBC Plaza, 6819, Alaya Ave,
Makati City

The Japan International Cooperate Agency (JICA) is an agency of the governmentof Japan responsible for implementing Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA)to developing countries. In the Philippines, JICA has been one of key development
partners since 1960s. JICA contributes to the Philippines by sharing Japan’s
technology and knowledge with the Filipinos.
At first in this session, JICA staffs gave us some basic information about JICA’s
cooperation to the Philippines. Table 1 below stands for the bilateral assistance to thePhilippines and Table 2 is about technical cooperation to the Philippines.

Table 1: Bilateral Assistance to the Philippines (CY 2011)
SchemeNet Disbursements(USD Million)

Grant Aid

32.76

TCP

61.16

Loan Aid

663.51
Source: Handout in the session.

Table 2: JICA’s Technical Cooperation to the Philippines1 as of 2012
Training Participants in Japan

34,873 people

Experts Dispatched

7,111 people

JOCV

1,521 people
Source: Handout in the session.

The government of Japan has the following three priority issues/areas on its ODA
to the Philippines.
1) Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth through Further Promotion of Investment⇒ such as transportation, energy, infrastructure, governance, etc
2) Overcoming Vulnerability and Stabilizing Bases for Human Life and Production
Activity⇒ such as disaster, environment, health, agriculture, etc
1 The Philippines is the third largest recipient countries of technical cooperation by JICA.

3) Peace and Development in Mindanao⇒ governance/human resource development, poverty reduction, etc
Among them, we heard an explanation
about ongoing projects focusing on
rehabilitation and recovery from typhoon“Yolanda” (regarding pillar 2) and the Pasig‐
Marikina River channel improvement (pillar
1 and 2).
In the project on rehabilitation andrecovery from typhoon Yolanda, thegovernment of the Philippines emphasizes aconcept of “Build Back Better, Faster and Safer” as a national policy. The conceptmeans that it is important for typhoon affected areas not to be restored to its former
state but to be revived “better” and “safer” than previously. Based on this concept,
various projects are being implemented.

Regarding the Pasig‐Marikina River channel improvement project, we received
an explanation of its overview. The project objective is to mitigate flood damage inMetro Manila caused by channel overflow of the river, and thereby to contribute to
the sustainable economic development in this area. The project components are
divided into two measures. One is structural measures including improvements ofriver wall, dike, and steel sheet pile. The other is Non‐structural measures such asawareness campaign. We watched a video about this campaign.
Writer: Takayuki UTO

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)Technical Cooperation Council of the Philippines (TCCP)

Date and Time: February 20, 14:30 – 16:30HMeeting place: 6/F Department of Foreign Affairs Building, 2330, Roxas
Building, Pasay City

We visited two organizations such as DFA and TCCP in order to get information about
diplomacy of Philippines, and DFA ambassador, Mr. Jose Ma. A. Cariñor, gave us a
useful presentation about how the Philippines thinks of their diplomacy and whatgoal they have. The points of the explanation are as follows:
About DFA
1. DFA is focused on the soft power diplomacy because like Japan, the Philippines
does not have the big power such us United America has, so they found theway which is soft power diplomacy to develop their economic and make theirinitiatives in the international society.
2. Since DFA is doing the soft power diplomacy the Philippines would like to getalong with the countries which have the same policy as theirs: the soft power
diplomacy. Especially, it is the important point that the Philippines and Japan
have the same policy on diplomacy.

About TCCP

Executive Order No. 16 (September 1, 1992) created the TechnicalCooperation Council of the Philippines (TCCP), with the Secretary of Foreign
Affairs as Chair and the DFA as Secretariat to the Council, to coordinate andimplement various cooperation schemes between the Philippines and otherdeveloping countries.



The Technical Cooperation Council of the Philippines (TCCP) acts as thenational focal point for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries(TCDC) and as such implements a technical cooperation program in favor ofdeveloping and least developed countries (DCs and LDCs), coordinates related
projects and activities implemented by government and non‐governmentorganizations, and undertakes research on the technical assistancerequirements of DCs and LDCs.



TCCP will be tasked to play a pivotal role in the country’s soft power
diplomacy initiatives. TCCP has recommended changing its nomenclature to
the Philippines International Cooperation Agency (PICA) like Japan
International Cooperation Agency. Therefore, JICA is kind of the model for
their policy.

Writer: Katsunari TADA

Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA)

Date and Time: February 20, 16:30 – 17:30HMeeting place: 6/F Department of Foreign Affairs Building, 2330, Roxas
Building, Pasay City

The migration team had to visit in total six places in the Philippines: Office of theUndersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA), International Labor
Organization (ILO), Commission of the Filipinos Overseas (CFO), Department Of
Labor and Employment (DOLE) , Philippine Overseas Employment Administration(POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). OUMWA was thefirst destination, the first step of what was in fact a great adventure in our search of
migration related discoveries. When we arrived there we had a general presentation
about OUMWA by the Ambassador Eric Andaya, after the welcome words of theUndersecretary Jesus Yabes. We had the opportunity to access the legal section which
communicates with the embassies in the countries where the Philippines sent
migrant workers. We could have a short talk with the officers. There is one legal
officer for each country where there are Filipino workers. They are also in goodcommunication and coordination with the embassies. We had another presentation
by another staff member Mr. Lorenzor who has been many times to risky countries tohelp, among other things, rescue Filipino in difficulties. He was assisted by Mrs Hazel,
a legal officer.

The general presentation by the Ambassador Eric Andaya, the Executive Director of
OUMWAThe office of the legal officers: one for each country

The presentation of Mr. Lorenzor jointly with Mrs Hazel
The meeting could be summarized as follows.
OUMWA is located in the department of foreign affairs. It is the unit in charge ofthe overall assistance to nationals operations of the department of foreign affairs. It
coordinates the activities regarding assistance to nationals provided by various
agencies. It provides assistance and legal services to Filipinos overseas in distress. It
formulates the relevant policies and makes recommendations. When there is aproblem they take over to resolve it. The office was created to provide strong
mechanism to help the Filipino overseas. As for 2013, US$ 1 million were spent onlawyers’ expenditures. They have a legal mandate which is to make sure the rights of
the workers are respected during the judgments. They provide two kinds ofassistance:
1‐ Legal: they take care of criminal , labor case , appeal of death penalty
2‐ Consular: they deal with maltreatment, repatriation, unpaid salaries, contract
distribution, and shipment of remains.
OUMWA works in good cooperation with IOM (International Organization for
migration), they give and get feedback from each other. They cooperate to help theFilipinos overseas. It is important to note that in most of the places we have been to,they keep saying that they don’t encourage or develop foreign employment; theywant to make it a choice. If working abroad is the choice they make, the government
wants to make sure that they are protected. They also help them when as a result of
this choice they are in trouble. As Mr Lorenzor said, they try to get them “out oftrouble” whether they are regular or not, even if they are in countries in crisis.

Writer: Pontius ERSKINE

Yokohama National University and University of Santo Tomas
Joint Seminar 2015
The YNU‐UST Joint seminar was held on February 21, 2015 at the Graduate
School – University of Santo Tomas. The session begin at 8:30 in the morning.
The seminar opened with Philippines National Anthem. Professor Marilu R.
Madrunio , PhD. Dean, UST Graduate School, performed the welcome remarks.

The first presentation on “Spratly Island and International Law” wasperformed by Professor Kakee Tomoko. She presented one of a hot topic relating toInternational law, conflicts between China and Japan, China and the Philippines aswell as other South East Asian countries regarding the Law of sea.

“Entrepreneurial Education” was the second presentation, presented by Professor
Conrado Montemayor, PhD from University of Santo Tomas. He divided his
presentation into two modules: Principles of Entrepreneurial education and Applied
entrepreneurial education.

YNU and UST students at the seminar

Professor Ichiro Araki asked Professor Kakee Tomoko after her presentation

Group Photo‐ YNU and UST teamPasig – Marikina River Channel Improvement ProjectDate and Time: February 21, 13:30 – 15:30HMeeting place: Pasig River, Manila

The Philippines is known to be one of the countries that are most vulnerable tonatural disasters. Metro Manila has a population of more than 10 million, but thisarea is subject to typhoon. Particularly, The Pasig – Marikina River flows throughurbanized area which is economic/administrative center of the Philippines, so a floodof the river has a considerably negative impact on Pilipino society.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has been implementing “Pasig –Marikina River Channel Improvement Project” since 1999. This project is aimed toreduce flood damage in Metro Manila by improving Pasig – Marikina river channel.
The project is carried out by a joint venture between TOYO CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD.
and SHIMIZU CORPORATION, both are Japanese companies.
We visited the project site in orderto understand how JICA’s project is
implemented in the Philippines asdeveloping country.
The engineering representative
allowed us to inspect the projectsite from on the boats, so we wereable to look around the site
comfortably.
While inspecting, we observedthat there were many residences
near to the river. According to the
explanation, some people have no
choice but to live there for avariety of reasons despite it isillegal. The companies (TOYO –SHIMIZU JV) said they tried tonegotiate with them for their
moving, but they have manydifficulties. It is important for the“inclusive” development of thePhilippines to eliminate thisdilemma.

On the other hand, we also observed from on the boats that there are many highrise buildings near to the river. We could catch a glimpse of two aspects of the
Pilipino society.

We learnt a lot through visiting one of Japan’s Official Development Assistance(ODA) project site and seeing workers involved with it. We appreciate TOYO –SHIMIZU JV so much. We couldn’t have such a great opportunity without theircooperation.
Writer: Takayuki UTOGrandspan Development Corporation (GDC)

Date and Time: February 21, 16:30 – 17:30HMeeting place: Pasig River, Manila
Grandspan

Development

Corporation

(GDC)

is

an

internationallyrecognizedsteelfabrication company established in
1979. GDC deals with steel fabrication,
tubular section, trailer manufacturing,haulingequipment

andgeneralconstruction. Its steel products havepassed rigorous quality standards2.

We visited its factory because GDC makes the steel piles for the “Pasig‐
Marikina River Channel Improvement Project” we also visited in this study program.
Although the operation on that day was finished, we were able to observe hugefactory. We appreciate Mr. Alfred S. Tiu (the CEO of GDC) so much. We had a valuable
experience.

2

Grandspan Development Corporation: http://www.grandspan.ph/ (accessed 14/03/2015)

Writer: Takayuki UTOThe City Mayor of GuiuanDate and Time: February 22, 09:00 – 15:00HMeeting place: The City hall of Guiuan

We visited the city hall of Guiuan inorder to get some information about
how they are recovering from badsituation made by typhoon Yolanda. We
had a chance to ask some questions to
the mayor of Guiuan. The points of the
explanation are as follows:
Guiuan is a second‐class municipality
in the province of Eastern Samar,
Philippines. As of the 2010 census, it had
a population of 47,037 people. However, a lot of people died due to the typhoon
Yolanda.
At the time of typhoon hit, the big problem was that they could not contact withother governments because the infrastructure on communication was damaged.
However, as soon as the typhoon hit, many assistance came to Guiuan city fromorganizations like international NGOs and other cities that did not affected despite ofunable to contact with outside of Guiuan.
The city hall of Guiuan was badly damaged by typhoon, therefore the city hall isstill located in the temporally houses. However, some houses are actually perment
houses because they cannot afford to have new facilities.

In the Guiuan city, there are some buildings like day care center under theconstruction by JICA. JICA projects created some opportunities for local people towork for JICA projects. They appreciate foreign countries assistance like JICA does.

Writer: Katsunari TADA

The Provincial Governor of Leyte

Date and Time: February 23, 08:00 – 11:00H

Meeting place: The Provincial Governor of Leyte

We visited the provincial governor of Leyte in order to grasp the information about
how provincial government did when typhoon Yolanda hit the Leyte Islands badly.
We had an opportunity to interview with Hon. Ranulfo "BOB" S. Abellanosa who is
one of the board members Leyte province. The points of the explanation are as
follows:
1. Leyte is a province the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its
capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three‐quarters of the islandof Leyte. The provinceof Leyte is located west
of Samar Island, northof Southern Leyte andsouth of Biliran. To thewest of Leyte across the
Camotes Sea is Cebu
province.

On

8

November 2013, theprovince was largely

destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), killing a reported 10,000
people, having previously suffered similar destruction and loss of life in 1991
during typhoon Thelma.
2. There

wasnocommunication

problem

between

Provincial

theGovernor of Leyte and othergovernments

in

the

Philippines,

but

some

people living in Tacloban
city, who I interviewed, said
that there was a problem
becauseThe

Provincial

Governor of Leyte could notinform the correct number of dead persons to national government so thatpeople who affected by typhoon could not get enough support soon after thetyphoon hit.

Writer: Katsunari TADA

Watching the recovery of rural public health centre from the damage oftyphoon

Date and Time: February 23, 13:00 – 14:00H

We visited at one ofthe village near Tacloban
ontheafternoon

February 23rd. I was justimpressed the situationin which many peoples
even

now

live

in

temporary house. In thatarea, JICA have been
constructing
healthcare

publiccentre.

Ilearned that JICA also
running these business first. They also try to construct community hall and highschool. They would like to enhance vibrancy of that region. Their key word is that“build back better”. We just hope that construction goes successfully and the village
build back better.

Writer: YOHEI Kuwabara

The Tacloban City Hall

Date and Time: February 23, 14:00 – 16:00H

Meeting place: Tacloban City

We visited Tacloban City in the Leyte Island. This area suffered serious
damage in the typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013. The city is on the road to restoration fromit. We met Mrs. Cristina Gonzales‐Romualdez, the wife of the city mayor of Tacloban(at the same time she is a City Councilor) in order to hear of the situation at that time
Yolanda hit there and present issues.
She kindly told us thatthe city was confronted withmany difficulties including
recover and restoration. The
most impressive story to me
was about the distribution of
the relief supplies. She
explained that it was difficult
for the municipal to decide“Where” “What” “How” todeliver the huge amounts ofsupport commodities. This
story means that it isimportant that recipients ofassistance also should make elaborate preparations against cases of emergency.
However she thanked donors for their support. There was a list of organizations on
the blackboard meaning these organizations including international organizations
and NGOs were very cooperative with the municipal.

At the session, we
talkedunexpectedly
about the relationshipbetween Tacloban Cityand Fukuyama city in
Hiroshima
prefecture,
Japan. They have had a
specialtreatyoffriendship since 1980. In
fact, we found sometrucks which the word
“Fukuyama” was written
on the body of them. It
happened that professor
Kakee
came
from
Fukuyama City, so we got excited over talking about it (Actually, I also have lived in
the city).
We realized Tacloban City and Japan have a close ties, so we should maintain therelations by cooperating each other.
We appreciate what she has given us this opportunity in spite of her condition of
being busy.

Writer: Takayuki UTO

Watching the recovery of the Cathedral, Tacloban

Date and Time: February 23, 16:00 – 16:30H

We visited the cathedral that away than an hour from my Tacloban Airport. The
Cathedral, take a lot of damage for super typhoon, was now in progress the new
construction. It was the site where we can feel the super typhoon of power in 2013.
Cathedral of roof made of concrete, and many of the buildings were destroyed in ahuge wind. Father of this cathedral was explained to us the damage situation of thetyphoon, Father told us to guide the current construction site. After you visit thedamaged site, they provided us with Filipino food. The food was unique and was very
delicious. Araki, Kobayashi, Professor Kakee, donated for the cathedral of repair.

The photo above is cathedrals that were damaged by the typhoon.
Reporter: CHOI Inchul

International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for the Philippines
Date and Time: February 25, 09:00 – 11:00H

Meeting place: 19F Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Avenue,
Makati City

The migration team visited International Labour Organization Country Office(ILO) for the Philippines in the morning on February 25. ILO is one of the United
Nations’ specialized agencies that deals with labor problems. The staff of ILO, Ms. Ma
Concepcion Sardaña and Ms. Catherine Calalay Laws, welcomed us and gave us twopresentations about information of migrant workers, ILO’s general works and its
programs to support migration workers.
First,

Ms.

explained

Sardaña

the

basic

information and works of ILO.
The points of the explanation
are as follows:
1. ILO was established in 1919
to promote social justiceandinternationallyrecognized

human

labor

rightsandthrough“Rights at work”, “Social
protection”, “Employment
opportunities” and “Social
dialog”.
2. Its uniqueness is “tripartite” structure. This structure consists of governments,
employers and workers organizations and ILO encourages them to promote social
dialog between them to solve social, economic and many other issues.
3. ILO aims to promote “decent work” that means a productive work. However,“decent work” doesn’t mean “just working”, but “the work that protects the rights
of workers and generates enough income”.
4. To achieve the four points that are mentioned in 1, ILO has conducted many
programs with other organizations such as International Organization for
Migration (IOM), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and many NGOs.
Implementing partners also include national and local governments, employers
and workers.

Next, Ms. Laws gave us the presentation about general information about migrant
workers and ILO’s programs for them. The details of it are as follows:
1. There are 105.5 million migrant workers in the world. 30% of them are in Asia
and 14 million migrant workers are staying in ASEAN countries.
2. Regarding the Philippines, 10% of its population (10.5 million) are working
abroad and 10% of its GDP (26.9 billion USD) comes from their remittances. The
most of the top 10 destinations of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are Middle
East countries and Asian countries.
3. The drives of migration are economic disparities, demographic changes, labor
shortages and wage differentials among developing countries and developed
countries. There are many issues and challenges with migrant workers such as
health problems, employment conditions and irregular migration flows.
4. ILO is a specialized organization of United Nations that deals with migration
workers. It supports them by strengthening the efforts of social partners who
provide direct services to migrant workers. Also, ILO has been promoting
standards of migration policy and the rights of migrant workers.
5. Currently, ILO Manila implements ASEAN TRIANGLE Projects, which aims tostrengthen regional legal and policy framework to more effectively govern
migration and protect the rights of migrant workers in a gender responsive
manner. ILO also established Asia‐Pacific Knowledge Network on Migration (AP‐
MagNet) in which professionals and practitioners can share, debate on andleverage technical and practical knowledge on labor migration and humantrafficking.

Writer: KAYO Kimura

Board of Investment (BOI)

Date and Time: February 25, 09:00 – 10:30H

Meeting place: Ground Four, Industry and Investment Building, 385 Sen,
Gil Puyat Ave, Makati City

Our purpose of visiting BOI was research of activities of BOI, Philippine economy
and investment environment of the Philippines. BOI is the national investment
promotion agency of the government.
Their activities are based on the governments set goals of encouraging more
economic activities that will take the country to a higher level of global
competitiveness and opening more opportunities that will generate more gainful
employment for the people. For example, they have such activities as due diligenceassistance, business registration facilitation and aftercare service. And they makecompetitive investment incentives.

According to their presentation, there are “Magical 10 Indications of a Growing
Philippine Economy”. They are stable and resilient economic growth, continuous
inflow of OFW remittances, steady export growth, steady investment flows, robust
domestic financial sector coupled with credit growth, efficient revenue collection,
improving global competitiveness ranking, dynamic people, strengthened governanceand anti‐corruption measures, credit ratings. Moreover there are five advantages ofbusiness in Philippines. They are rich talent pool, infrastructure development, criticalmarket access, first‐class lifestyle and competitive investment incentives.

I thought Philippines have a lot of advantages of business after theirpresentation. However, Philippines will develop more and more. Philippines must be
more important partner for Japan in the future.

Writer: TAIRA Nozaki

Mitsubishi CorporationDate and Time: February 25, 10:30 – 12:00H

Meeting place: 14/F LV Locsin Building, 6752 Alaya Ave, Makati CityOn 25th February, we visited Mitsubishi Corporation Manila branch. Mitsubishi
Corporation is one of largest general trading companies in Japan as you know. The
purpose of visiting this Manila branch is research of international business andJapanese company which is moving overseas. Mitsubishi Corp. was establish in 1870
as “Tsukumo Shokai”. And the name was changed later. In 1947, after WWⅡ,
Mitsubishi and other conglomerates were forced to dissolve. Mitsubishi Corp. hasover 200 offices or subsidiaries in over 90 countries. Manila branch is one of theoldest in them. Mitsubishi has a lot of kinds of business, for example, infrastructure,energy, chemicals, industrial finance and so on. Mitsubishi Corp. began to trade in
Philippines more than 60 years ago and they got partnership with Ayala Corp. The
reason why they got the partnership was sheer accident. Ayala Corp. was looking forJapanese company in the Marcos administration to get business know‐how. At thetime, Mitsubishi corp. had already a branch in the Philippines so Ayala Corp. chose
Mitsubishi as a partner. Mitsubishi Corp. is developing several business all over thePhilippines. For example, in Davao there is Davao Central Chemical Corp. as a partner
and in Laguna they develop electric plant. In Philippines there is unique culture,
custom and demand. To success business in the Philippines, you should consider
them.

Writer: TAIRA Nozaki

Commission For Filipino Overseas (CFO)Date and Time: February 25, 14:00 – 16:00H

Meeting place: 1345 Pres, Quirino Avenue Corner, Osmena Highway,
ManilaThe migration team, composed of members of the Yokohama National University(YNU) delegation and of University of Santo Thomas (UST), visited the CFO on
Wednesday, February 25th 2015. We met two responsible: Mr. Elfred Ulysses G. delRosario , Mr. Gregorio M. Jabal. They showed us a video and made presentation
about the CFO activities and projects. After that we had a “Questions and Answers”
session.

What is to be noted from our meeting is that:
CFO was created by the Batas Pambasa Blg 79 to:‐Provide assistance to the President and the congress of the Philippines in theformulation of policies and measures concerning or affecting Filipinos overseas.

‐

Develop and implement programs in order to promote their interests and favor
their well‐being.

‐

Serve as a forum for the preservation and the enhancement of the cultural,social and economic ties of the Filipinos abroad with their home country.

Its clients are more specifically:‐

the Filipinos permanent residents‐

the naturalized Filipinos or who have dual citizenship‐

Filipinos spouses or partner of foreign nationals‐

Descendants of overseas Filipinos‐

Participants of exchange visitors programs‐

Youth Filipinos overseas

For 2012, they estimated the Filipinos overseas at 10.5 millions in more than 200
countries. Among this number 47% are permanent, 40% temporary workers and
13% irregular. The CFO is taking care of the Filipinos pertaining to the permanent
residents’ category exclusively. The temporary workers are under the responsibilityof POEA and OWWA and their family members under the OWWA. All those agencies
work according to a country team approach and coordinate very well with each other.
Its frontline services include PDOS (Pre‐Departure Orientation Seminar) for
permanent visas holders from 20 to 59 years old. For those of 60, only registration isrequired similarly to the children from 12 and under. They provide peer counselingto them.

Writer: KAYO Kimura

Ayala CorporationDate and Time: February 25, 14:00 – 16:00H

Meeting place: 25/F Romulo Lounge, Tower One, Ayala Triangle, Alaya
Ave, Makati City

There are a lot of conglomerate in the Philippines. Ayala Corporation is one ofthe oldest conglomerate. In Japan, there are few conglomerate, so main purpose ofthis visit was to research mechanism, advantage, and disadvantage of conglomerate.
Conglomerate is a large company formed by joining together different firms. Ayala
Corp. is formed by Ayala Land (real estate), Bank of the Philippine Island (financial
services), Globe (telecommunications), MANILA WATER (water utility) and IMI(manufacturing) as listed businesses, and ac energy (power generation), AC INFRA(transport infrastructure), Live it (BPO and education), Ayala Automotive(automotive) as non‐listed businesses. Amidst the Philippines economic growth, theirunique portfolio of businesses provides various engines for growth anddiversification. Advantage of conglomerate is that they can adapt to changing
Philippine economy by changing their portfolio of businesses. Important factor that
could make a difference to operation of company include other economic conditions
affecting demand, supply and price conditions in the domestic and overseas markets
in which the company operates, changes in government regulations, tax laws, andother statutes and incidental factors. On the other hand, disadvantage of
conglomerate is that it takes long time to learn the business very well when they
advance into a new business. Ayala Corp. also contribute to society of Philippines. For
example, they developed Makati, which is one of the most important cities in businessof Philippines. The land was owned by them for a long time, so they could do. Ayala
Corp. have strong connection with Japan. For example, Ayala Land, MANILA WATER
and ac energy have developed strategic, long‐term partnership with Mitsubishi toensure success.

Writer: TAIRA NozakiDepartment of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

Date and Time: February 26, 09:00 – 11:00H

Meeting place: DOLE Building, Murrala Wing Corner, Genmeral Luna St.

The migration team visited the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) inthe morning on February 26. DOLE is a government agency that has some specializedorganizationsuch asWorkers

Welfare Administration(OWWA), National

Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO), and Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA).

At the beginning of the meeting, Undersecretary Mr. Ciriaco A. Lagunzad Ⅲ gave us
warm welcome remarks. After that, the staff from OWWA and NRCO explained theworks of each organization. After the introductory remarks of the undersecretary, Ms.
Carmelina F. Velasquez, Director of OWWA, gave us presentation. The details are as
follows:
1. Some of the trustees of OWWA come from other related agencies such as POEA and
Office of the Undersecretary of Migrant Workers Affaires (OUMWA). The mandates
of OWWA are as below:a) Development and delivery of welfare programs and services.
b) Ensure the capital built‐up and the validity of the fund.
2. It is operated by the single fund which OFWs pay. Each OFWs has to pay US$ 25 formembership before leaving the Philippines. If an OFW gets injured or dies in thehost countries, certain amount of money will be paid from the fund. The
membership contract is valid for two years.
3. OWWA also offers education and training programs before and after working to
OFWs such as pre‐departure education programs, scholarships and training andinventive programs. In addition to these programs, it offers welfare programs andrepatriation programs for distressed OFWs. (For further information, please see
the OWWA pages of this report.)

4. OWWA has 17 regional welfare offices in the Philippines and 32 overseas field
offices in 24 countries to support OFWs and their families.

Next, Mr. Louie Chaneco, the staff of NRCO, gave us the other presentation which isabout NRCO.
1. Reintegration programs started in 1980s through OWWA and NRCO wasestablished in 2007. It aims to OFWs reintegrating into the Philippine society,enjoying the gains of overseas employment and contributing to the attainment of
national goals. To achieve this vision, it helps OFWs and their families work withentrepreneurial mindset and empowers them to plan for investment, business andlocal employment.
2. Reintegration program consists of three parts: on‐site, upon‐return and pre‐departure programs. On‐site program provides information of investments andlivelihood opportunities. Upon‐return program encourages OFWs to venture
productive and sustainable undertakings. Pre‐departure program offers OWFs
language and cultural trainings and helps them set common goals.
3. The core ideas of the program are as below.
a) The program does not ask OFWs to return the Philippines now.
b) The program is not only for workers but also for their families.
c) The program encourages saving, not borrowing.
d) The program has entrepreneurship component.

e) Implementation of the program is a multi‐sector concern.
4. Specifically, NRCO offers seminars that intend to serve OFWs to achieve financial
planning and management, to offer special loan interventions to support enterprises
and to give tool interventions to bring about improved socio‐economic well‐being of
undocumented OFWs. It also has a special program, BALIK PINAY! BALIK HANAPBUHAY!, for returning womenWriter: KAYO KimuraDepartment of Justice (DOJ)

Date and Time: February 26, 10:00 – 11:30H

Meeting place: Padre Faura Street, Erimita, Manila 1000

In the morning of February 26, we visited The Department of Justice (DOJ) whichis the government's principal law agency. As such, the DOJ serves as the government's
prosecution arm and administers the government's criminal justice system byinvestigating crimes, prosecuting offenders and overseeing the correctional system.
The DOJ, through its offices and constituent/attached agencies, is also thegovernment's legal counsel and representative in litigations and proceedings
requiring the services of a lawyer; implements the Philippines' laws on the admission
and stay of aliens within its territory; and provides free legal services to indigent andother qualified citizens.
Our research mission at DOJ is tounderstandthePhilippines

legislative and institutional attempts
to comply with Article X of theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade

(GATT

administration

1994)
of

in

their

the
laws,

regulations, and to find out common
challenges,

sharedgoals

innovative

solutionstotransparency

inTherefore,

our

and

enhancegovernance.

discussion

concentrated on observation andevaluation

of

the

Transparency

norm’s compliance in Transparency and Public Participation in rulemaking process
related to trade in the Philippines.
At first, Senior State Counsel Marlyn Laurino Angeles gave a brief presentation
about the structure, functioning of DOJ. Subsequently, Assistant Secretary Geronimo
Sy discussed various matters including Transparency norm, Public participation, anti‐
corruption efforts, and the balance between privacy and transparency with Professor
Ichiro Araki, students from YNU and UST.

Through considerably
discussing, Mr Geronimo
Sy deliberately clarified
following concerns’
1. The process of law‐
making related to
trade

and

investmentincompliance

with

the

Transparency

norm.
2. The DOJ and otheragencies in legislature and executive branches regularly facilitate the public
participation. Citizens, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and others
outside the government are able to contribute to and comment on proposed
rules related to trade.
3. DOJ’s anti‐corruption efforts toward a just and peaceful society anchored on
the principles of transparency, accountability, fairness and truth.

Writer: TRAN Van Long

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)

Date and Time: February 26, 13:00 – 15:00HMeeting place: BIR National Office Building, Diliman, Quezon City

In the afternoon of February 26, we came to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (Filipino: Kawanihan ng Rentas Internas, or BIR) is
an attached agency of Department of Finance. BIR collects more than one‐half of thetotal revenues of the government. The powers and duties of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue are: (1) Assessment and collection of all internal revenue taxes, fees andcharges; and (2) enforcement of all forfeitures, penalties, and fines connected
therewith, including the execution of judgments in all cases decided in its favor by the
Court of Tax Appeals and the ordinary courts.
Our research target at BIR is to intensively understand the Philippines legislativeand institutional attempts to comply with Article X of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994) in the administration of their laws, regulations, andgovernment orders governing trade in goods in the context of their local culture andpractices. Moreover, we try to examine common challenges, shared goals andinnovative solutions to enhance transparency in governance of the Philippines
regarding publication of tax regulations.
Prior to the main meeting with
Commissioner, we had a shortconversation

with

AssistantCommissioner Marissa Cabreros. She
kindly introduced some general
information about BIR, organizationand officials.
After that, we had a valuable
meeting with Commissioner, Ms Kim
S. Jacinto‐Henares. She elaborately
answered all of our questions andconcerns regarding Transparency,
Accountability, and Integrity of theagency.
Related to the role of public participation and public hearings in Tax regulation
making process, Ms Kim defined that the law requires that public hearings be
conducted upon each proposal for a uniform tax regulation. Public notice of such
hearings is required and will be submitted for publication to publications dealing

with State and local taxation and by the posting of such information on a Commission
web site when it is established. Within available resources, the Commission willconduct two or more public hearings at geographically diverse sites on suchproposals. Provision will be made, whenever possible, for participation in hearings
through

telephonicmeans.
Regardinganti‐corruption efforts, Ms
Kim emphasized thehigh degree of legal
compliance with Anti‐
Corruption Law at BIR.
Like

other

agenciesand authorities in thePhilippines,

every

official and employee,
except those who servein an official honorary
capacity,

without

service credit or pay,
temporarylaborers

and casual or temporary or contractual workers, shall file under oath their statementof assets, liabilities and net worth and a disclosure of business interests and financial
connections including those of their spouses and unmarried children under eighteen(18) years of age living in their households.
Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto‐Henares also discussed with professors and students
from the Graduate School of International Social Sciences of Yokohama National
University (YNU) and Graduate Students from the University of Santo Tomas (UST)on BIR’s transparency policy in connection with confidentiality restriction and the
BIR’s public participation in good governance Also present were DCIR Estela V. Sales,
ACIR Marissa O. Cabreros and ITAD OIC‐Asst. Chief Liza Lorelie S. Levardo‐Cruz.
Thereafter, the visitors were presented with the BIR’s organizational structure andthe role of Public Information and Education Division (PIED) in the promotion of
public transparency by PIED OIC‐Asst. Chief Ma. Lourdes D. Narvaez.

Writer: TRAN Van Long

Court of Tax Appeals (CTA)

Date and Time: February 26, 15:30 – 17:30HMeeting place: BIR National Office Building, Diliman, Quezon City

Following our visit at Bureau of Internal Revenue on February 26, we came to the
Court of Tax Appeals (Filipino: Hukuman ng Paghahabol sa Buwis ng Pilipinas). Thisis the special court of limited jurisdiction, and has the same level with the Court ofAppeals. The court consists of 8 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice. The Courtof Tax Appeals is located at Agham Road, National Government Center, North Triangle,
Diliman, Quezon City in Metro Manila.

Our research target at CAT is to understand the Philippines Court of Tax Appeals
attempts to comply with Article X of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT 1994) in the administration of their activities, functioning, organization andprocedures, and to find out common challenges, shared goals and innovative
solutionstoenhancetransparency,

anti‐corruption

andpromotejudicial

independence amongst Vietnam and the Philippines regarding Transparency reform
toward an open society.
At first, Ms. Ecca Sudla, the Secretary of CTA and Presiding Justice Roman delRosario warmly welcomed us at the lobby 3:00 PM After that, we had a fruitfulexperiments in discussion with Sir Roman del Rosario. He clearly clarified ourquestionnaires regarding Transparency, Accountability, and Judicial indepence of the
Court of Tax Appeals, such as:Regarding the role of The Philippines Judicial and Bar Council, he emphasizedthat the Council has helped strengthen judicial independence at the Court ofTax Appeals. It is involved not only in the judicial selection process, but also in
the evaluation, training and discipline of judges, and in the administration of
the court system in the Court of Tax Appeals system with a significant level.

To prevent from corrupting, at the CTA, the judicial salaries, benefits andpensions are adequate to attract and retain qualified candidates. Also, groups
from outside the judiciary cannot provide funds to judges. The information
regarding the salaries, benefits and pensions of judges are available to the
public.

The civil society organizations – such as the media, human rights groups,
women organizations, labour unions, business groups or any judicial or legal
association – have been active in promoting judicial independence. They
maintain monitoring the Judiciary, doing research on the Judiciary. The media
is continuously facilitated to be involved in the judicial process at the CTA.

The CTA decisions are written and recorded. Similarly, all court decisions andcases are published and available to the public. We can easily access this kindof information through the internet .

After the discussion, Ms. Ecca Sudla guided us to examine the Court’s organizationand facilities. She particularly explained the meaning of each symbol or notice, theusing method of information system where we can access any legal case published.

Writer: TRAN Van Long

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)


Date and Time: February 26, 14:00 – 16:00H

Meeting place: EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City
In the afternoon on 26 February, themigration team visited Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA). POEA is
one of the government administrations thatbelongs to the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) and it plays an importantrole in the overseas employment program. The
meeting was consists of watching DVD about
POEA and discussion between the staff,
Director Mr. Levinson C. Alcantara, Director Ms.
Laura S. Timonera and Mr. Alfredo Robels Jr.,and students. The main points of the meetingare as follows:
1. POEA’s vision is “Excellence in governancefor world‐class Filipino migrant workers”. In

order to achieve it, POEA connects all stakeholders, promotes giving jobs toOverseas Filipino Workers, protect their rights and tries to reintegrate them into
Philippine society.
2. On average, 3,000 clients come to POEA office every day. There are two kinds ofpeople who visit there. One is people who are seeking jobs and the other is people
who have already job contracts. People who are working abroad have to register
at POEA and POEA offers them to immigration programs including industry
regulations, employment facilitation and worker’s protection.
3. Violation and exploitation are the problems that OFWs are faced with. POEA
conducts pre‐employment orientation and anti‐illegal recruitment seminars
against these problems. Also, it handles on‐site welfare services such as
counseling, legal assistance and repatriation.
4. POEA and OWWA offer pre‐departure orientation seminar (PDOS) that are country
specific. Not only OFWs but also their family are admitted to join them so that they
can prepare for working and living abroad.
5. There are two reasons why the Philippines sends its people abroad. One is“constitutional” reason that moving to other places is the right of people. The
other is “economic” reason that the overseas employment program was taken as

an economic strategy to gain money when it started in 1970s. The number of
OFWs has been increasing but it is not regulated mainly because the government
thinks that they should not prevent anybody from accessing to jobs.
6. Many talented workers are working as OFWs and this phenomena is called “brain
drain”. The present government and POEA do not encourage people to work abroad
and they put a premium on creating local employment in the Philippines.

Writer: KAYO KimuraOverseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)

Date and Time: February 27, 09:00 – 11:00H

Meeting place: 7th Street Corner F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay CityOWWA is an attached agency of the department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
It promotes the well‐fare and well‐being of overseas Filipinos and their dependents.
At DOLE on February 26th we had a first introduction to the OWWA, its mission,
objectives, programs and services. On our visit at the agency itself, we could get moredetails and see the different sections and offices. The persons in charge presented
their roles and activities briefly. There again they told us that when it comes tomigration issues, all the agencies and the relevant ministries and department work
together. They don’t overlap.
It is important to remind that the agency has a twin mandate to strengthen andexpand the package of services offered to Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs)
members and their dependents. It also ensures capital build up and fund viability.
The membership guaranteed by a fee of US $ 25, gives rights to:
1‐ Social benefits
2‐ Education and training benefits or assistance3‐ Workers Welfare Assistance Program
4‐ Repatriation program
5‐ Reintegration Program
The visit at the OWWA in Picturesa) The language training programDuring our visit we could assist some activities of the education and training
program. A group of people, mainly women, destined to household in Saudi Arabia
were receiving language training in Arabic. This training was part of the pre‐departure education program, Country Specific Orientation Seminar (PDOS).
b) Entrepreneurship class for the returnee

At

the

Departure

PDOS

(Pre‐

Orientation

Seminar) training room,
some Filipino returnees
from several countries anddifferent

sectors

werereceiving
entrepreneurship lessons
to manage their businessandcontribute

to

the

development of their country after spending time and gaining some money abroad.
It is to be noted that since there are cases were the Filipino workers come backwith zero money; they have been sending remittances to their families whom did notsave anything; there is also a program to teach them and their families, financial
literacy. So that when they return home they can invest and that the families canmanage the money better.
c) At the IT center
After

our

visit

to

the

class

of

entrepreneurship class for returnees,
we made a short stop at the IT trainingclass. It is the result of a Bill Gates
program which began in 2005 with apartnership with Microsoft.

It offers

basic computer skills in one week. The
goal is to help the dependent of the
OFWs to be able among other things to manage the network, in order to communicate

with their family members overseas. They have the possibility to join advanced
program outside the OWWA after the training period.
d) The section of case management

After the training class we went to the section of case management. There,
they receive complaints. Some people wait until their return to complain for badtreatment, nonpayment or payment or job non conform to previous arrangements.
The responsible told us that although they have this case management program they
don’t overlap with any other agencies. They work together following the country
team approach. The one who receive the case can send it to the appropriate agency or
section. Generally, if the workers commit crime, DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs)
holds the case. If it is more work issue, then POEA (Philippines Overseas Employment
Administration), OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) or DOLE
(Department of Labor and Employment) do the follow up. So far, the best ways they
have found to solve the conflicts has been through mediation, to solve the problems
between employees and employers or agencies.
Cases come from Saudi Arabia more than any other countries; it concerns
mainly household workers for bad treatment. There are also cases of people whooverstayed without regularization of their situation and then when they need toreturn to the Philippines they cannot leave Saudi Arabia because the law there isparticular. They need the exit visa which is given by the sponsor. The maximum
period of stay is two (2) years, if a worker wants to extend their stay they need toundertake the legal process otherwise they encounter many difficulties which candelay their departure.
To resolve their conflicts with this particular country as well as others
regarding the protection of workers they talk to the countries in very diplomatic ways
to try to reach an agreement. Now they are working on the Abudabi dialogue.
Repatriation issues and demand come also from other countries such as
Nigeria, Lybia and so on. They manage and undertake all the appropriate procedures
cooperating with the relevant agencies or organizations. When the people arrived,
they have a special section to take care of the workers in distress. It is called: half way
home, it was our last stop.
e) At the Halfway Home

The halfway home is a section at OWWA which takes care of the workers in
distress, who have mental illness or who have been victims of abuses. They stay therewith board and lodging, usually for 3 or 5 days, until they get the ticket to go home. At
the halfway home, they can receive counseling, assistance and help. They don’t haveto pay anything for the services. The fees are already covered by the US$ 25
membership fees.

Writer: Pontius ERSKINE

Philippine National Police (PNP)

Date and Time: February 27, 09:00 – 11:00H

Meeting place: Camp Crame, National Headquarters

Q: Please explain about Crimes against and by foreigners.
Many crimes against Koreans such as abduction and murder in the Philippines arereported, what is the main reason for that? What is the Philippine police's response to
the crimes against Koreans? Crimes conducted by Korean are also very interesting.
Please tell us comparative explanations of the Crimes against and by Korean.
A: Currently, Korean residents are most increase in foreigners in the Philippines.
Unfortunately, it is true that Korean in the Philippines has increased the associatedcrime. However, recently in South Korea police, has worked been dispatched to thePhilippines, because the Philippines police are also watching, I expect the preventionof crime
Q: The impression we have about domestic security is not so good. What do you
think about that? If this impression is wrong, please advise us the current situation of
the Philippines?
A: In the view of tourists to visit the Philippines, They are considered to be dangerous
in the Philippines security situation. But, Philippines police to maintain law and orderon the basis of the law, the person who violates the law, go to jail based on the law.
For each country the wrong security situation and purpose, we are doing the best.

Q: We heard you emphasize a lot about the improvement of the human rights
condition. Please explain about how you make an effort to improve human rights
conditions. Could you show us the most impressive example of the improvement of
human rights in the Philippines?
A: Criminals, as victims, regardless of the presence or absence of crime, Philippines
police to respect the human rights of all people. Human rights in the Philippines havebeen a lot of improved in 25 years. This point of view, the Philippines police, has been
for a long time, a lot of effort to improve human rights of criminals and victims in the
country.
Q: How do you respond to the computer crime or cyber‐crime?
What kinds of computer crimes or cyber‐crimes are mostly reported to the Police?
A: Like many other countries, cyber‐crime has increased in the Philippines. Illegal
account transactions, takeover of illegal personal information, infringement ofprivacy, are increasingly situation worse.
Q: Philippines suffer from a lot of typhoons every year. To deal with the disasters
resulted from the typhoons, what kind of measures do you have? What is the mainrole of the Police in dealing with natural disasters?
A: The typhoon affected areas, military and police I help the recovery been dispatched.
Especially the police, it is necessary to the role of the police for maintaining security
in the affected areas by typhoon. Philippines police, plays grasp of deaths, injured
transport, and the role with an emphasis on maintaining order on‐site for recovery.

Writer: CHOI Inchul

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)

Date and Time: February 27, 15:00 – 17:00HMeeting place: Camp Crame, EDSA, Quezon CityOn Feb 28th, we visited the Philippine
Economic Zone Authority, called PEZA.
This government agency is attached to
the Department of Trade and Industry.
The task of this organization is topromote investments, extend assistance,
register, grant incentives to and facilitate
the business operations of investors inexport‐oriented

manufacturing

andservice facilities inside selected areas
throughout the country proclaimed by theorganization. Our mission was to learn
the Philippine economic development andprospective.
The session was very fruitful. I had
asked some questions via email inadvance. The presenter, Mr. Elemer kindly explained the overview of the organization
and answered my questions respectively. I will give you some examples. First, I asked
to PEZA what is the advantage of doing business in the Philippines. He explained that
Philippine have the abundant of good human resource that can speak English fluently,
which is one of the most important ability in globalized business situation, and havefriendly mind. As I said before, PEZA aims to promote investments, employment andexport, so these quality advantages as well as the number will push Philippine
economy forward. There are the pools of human resource in this country. Actually,
they have abundant of international school in the nation. I was so surprised thatpeople even in the rural area can speak English. Plus, they will give an incentive toeach company, such as reducing tax and giving consulting service, although they areforced to build their company in the designated area and hire the Filipino to someextent. Second, he will explain about my question in the email‐which industries are
growing and receiving the most investment? He indicated that now Philippine are
famous for business outsourcing, but in the near future they would like to create newknowledge‐based industries.

After session, we had Qs and As times.
Every member including Filipino students
is very interested in this organization andhas many questions. I asked about theFilipino foreign exchange reserves. Mr.
Elmer point out that investment fromforeign country is the easiest way to get
foreignexchangereserve.

Filipino

government has enough that can survive
for 11 months in the any sanctions fromother country or in the depression.
Overall,thesessionwasvery

meaningful for every student. The Filipino
GDP grows at 6.1%, which is the second
highest in the Asia after China. In thissession, we got to know only a little about
Filipino economy and its situation. We have to constantly watch the economic
situation in Philippine from now on.

Writer: YOHEI Kuwabara

MESSAGES FROM PARTICIPANTS
The YNU field trip to the Philippines turns to
be 10 years old. In 2006 I joined this trip asa doctoral student. Since then, the field trip
has become increasingly sophisticated. This
time I was very pleased to see students
discovered a great deal of pleasure to know
about Filipino society and become moreproactive day by day during their stay in thePhilippines. In this regard, I would like toexpress our sincere appreciation to theprofessors and students of the UST, especially to Professor Tommy Tiu, for their well‐thought‐out arrangements as well as for their warm‐hearted and generous supports. As
for the YNU part, I must say that the outcome of this field trip owes much to Professor
Kabashima’s prolonged dedication.
Associate Professor
Kakee Tomoko
In this fieldtrip program in the Philippines, I learnt a lot about the diversity of Filipino
society through interaction with people living there. Our interests were mainly divided
into three categories: “Economic and Low”, “Oversea Filipino Worker (OFW)”, and“Recovery from disaster/Development cooperation”, so we were able to visit various
places. We visited political institutions, Japanese/Filipino corporations, and met
fishermen. In each session, we learnt various systems, living conditions and connections
with Japan, from their respective positions. As a student measuring Development
Cooperation, the fact that I had many
opportunities to communicate withlocal people in the Philippines was
actually helpful to my study. Now I can
combine theory with practice easierthan before.
Regarding daily life in the Philippines,
each communication with students
from University of Santo Tomas (UST)
was also good experience to me. I wassurprised many times that every UST student speaks knowledgeably on a wide variety of
topics about their own county: history, culture, customs and social/economical systems,
etc. They answered any questions accurately. On the other hand, however, I sometimes
couldn’t answer the questions about Japan when asked. I fully realized I still need to
study more about JAPAN. I will try to deepen understanding of not only the Philippines
but also Japan.
In this program, we also had many opportunities to meet active Japanese people in thePhilippines. I had sometimes imagined myself to work abroad, but it had not been clear.
In regards to that point, I’m sure this experience helps me make my imaginationstronger. Although our schedule was limited, it was very meaningful that we could visit
many places and have sessions with people we cannot usually meet.
Finally, I would like to appreciate all people involved in this program. Thanks tocountless supports from professors and students of UST, we could perform our programsmoothly, thank you very much. And I also appreciate YNU participants. It is mypleasure that I have stayed 10 days in the Philippines with all of you. I wish I can visit
the Philippines with you again in the future.
Graduate Student
Takayuki Uto