InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno S. Aquino III received a member of the House of Representatives of Japan in Malacanang on Monday and discussed various issues to strengthen the long-standing ties between the Philippines and Japan.
Nobuteru Ishihara, a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive at the Music Room of the Malacanang Palace.
Representative Nobutero Ishihara was accompanied by his brother Hirotaka Ishihara, a former member of the House of Representatives of Japan and Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe.
The House of Representatives of Japan is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.
Also in attendance were Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo and Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras.
Following his graduation from Keio University in 1981, Rep. Ishihara started working as a political reporter for Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV).
In 1990, he was elected to the House of Representatives as representative for the Fourth District of Tokyo. He was re-elected several times.
Due to his interest in economic issues, he served on various Committees of the House of Representatives and Liberal Democratic Party dealing with finance, taxes, international trade, commerce, and industry.
"In 2001, I put my economic views into print by co-authoring The Total Plan for Reviving Japan's Economy (Nihon Keizai Kishi Kaisai Totaru Puran). Along with fellow Diet Members Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Takumi Nemoto, and Yoshimi Watanabe, I argued that Japan should establish an approximately $100- billion, government-subsidized "Survival Fund" to purchase the private sector's mountain of bad debt," he said in his official website.
On April 26, 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi invited Rep. Ishihara to serve as Minister of State for Administrative and Regulatory Reform and he accepted an offer to join the Cabinet. On September 22, 2003, he was named the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Despite the additional responsibilities associated with his ministerial posts, Rep. Ishihara said he did not lose sight of his duty as a Diet Member. On the contrary, he said he tried to transform his Cabinet experience into more effective leadership for the citizens of Japan.
