President’s Hall, Malacañang
February 21, 2018

“Help me stamp out corruption, and I can help you,” said President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to several conglomerate leaders of the Philippine-Japan Economic Cooperation (PhilJEC) in a courtesy call at the President’s Hall in Malacañan Palace.

The President emphasized his hard line against corruption in the government and welcomed the help that the PhilJEC could bring to the Philippines in the form of jobs and taxes.

President Duterte further gave his assurance to the business leaders that the Philippine government will help them run their businesses in the country smoothly, and that any reports of corruption will be investigated swiftly.

The President was joined in the event by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Director Maria Lourdes Arcenas, and other government officials.

The PhilJEC was represented in the courtesy call by several large business leaders in the Philippines and Japan such as JG Summit President and CEO Lance Gokongwei, Aboitiz and Company COO Sabin Aboitiz, A Brown Co. President and CEO Dr. Walter Brown, Jollibee Foods Corporation Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, DMCI Holdings Inc. Chairman Isidro Consunji, Philippine-Japan Society President Francis Laurel, Marubeni Corporation Chairman Teruo Asada, and Mitsubishi Corporation Chairman Ken Kobayashi.

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