Weeks after the official visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the country, a professor at the Japan Coast Guard Academy also paid a courtesy call to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official at the headquarters in Manila on Thursday.

During his visit, Captain Furuya Kentaro, professor at the Japan Coast Guard Academy who was accompanied by Commander Oka Shogo, First Secretary and Coast Guard Attache of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, and Commander Onodera Hiroaki, PCG Maritime Safety and Security Advisor and Long-term Expert under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was welcomed by the Philippine Coast Guard officials led by Coast Guard Acting Deputy Commandant for Administration, Rear Admiral Joeven Fabul.

The delegation was also given a comprehensive briefing on the PCG’s organizational history, recent developments in the West Philippine Sea, and ongoing initiatives under the Maritime Security Program (MSP) by the PCG officers led by Commodore Algier Ricafrente.

"The meeting underscored the importance of sustained cooperation in addressing regional maritime security challenges and highlighted the value of institutional knowledge sharing between the PCG and the Japan Coast Guard (JCG)," the PCG stated.

"This engagement reaffirms the strong and enduring partnership between the PCG and JCG in promoting maritime safety, security, and regional stability through professional education, technical cooperation, and strategic dialogue," it added.

Two weeks ago, Ishiba together with the officials from the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines and JCG Commandant Admiral Seguchi Yoshio also visited the headquarters of the PCG on the last day of his two-day visit in the country from April 29 to 30, 2025.

Ishiba and his delegation conducted a ship tour and witnessed demonstration of arresting techniques and procedures learned by the PCG from its Japanese counterpart on board the BRP Teresa Magbanua, one of the PCG's largest multi-role response vessels acquired from Japan in 2022. Robina Asido/DMS