MANILA, Philippines – Tinintahan ng Pilipinas at South Korea ang 10 kasunduan saklaw ang iba’t ibang larangan gaya ng tanggulan, agrikultura, pagpapatupad ng batas, turismo, edukasyon at teknolohiya.
Sa katunayan, sinaksihan nina Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos jr. at South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ang paglagda at presentasyon ng 10 memorandums of understanding (MOU) sa kanilang pagpupulong sa Palasyo ng Malakanyang, araw ng Martes, Marso 3.
“And as we just had witnessed, we concluded a number of agreements in the field of defense materials procurement, veterans affairs, agriculture, trade, investment, and economic cooperation, intellectual property, digital cooperation, digitalization and innovation, Korean language training in schools, cultural cooperation, and police cooperation which will sustain the momentum of the Philippines-Republic of Korea’s strategic partnership for the future,” ang sinabi ng Pangulo sa joint press conference kasama si Lee.
Kabilang sa 10 MOUs, ay ang pagsusog sa isang ‘implementing arrangement’ kasama ang Department of National Defense, ipinresenta sa publiko matapos ang bilateral meeting.
Ang mga MOUs ay ang mga sumusunod:
1. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sa pagitan ng Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Science and ICT ng Republic of Korea (ROK) ukol sa Digital Cooperation
2. MOU sa pagitan ng Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Foreign Affairs ng ROK hinggil sa Technology, Digitalization, and Innovation Program
3. Pagsusog sa Number 2 sa Implementing Arrangement (IA) sa pagitan ng Department of National Defense (DND) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Defense Acquisition Program Administration ng ROK ukol sa Concerning the Procurement of Certain Defense Materials
4. MOU hinggil sa Cooperation in the Field of Patriots and Veterans Affairs sa pagitan ng DND ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs of the ROK
5. MOU sa pagitan ng Department of Agriculture (DA) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs ng ROK ukol sa Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture
6. MOU sa pagitan ng Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Resources ng ROK hinggil sa Trade, Investment, and Economic Cooperation
7. MOU sa pagitan ng DTI ng Republika ng Pilipinasat Ministry of Intellectual Property ng ROK para sa Reinforced Cooperation in the Field of Intellectual Property
8. MOU ukol sa Cooperation on the Special Program in Foreign Language in Philippine Schools sa pagitan ng Department of Education (DepEd) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Education ng ROK
9. MOU hinggil sa Cultural Cooperation sa pagitan ng National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism ng ROK
10. MOU sa pagitan ng Philippine National Police (PNP) ng Republika ng Pilipinas at Korean National Police Agency ng ROK ukol sa Police Cooperation
Sa paglagda ng mga kasunduan, sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos na “decades of cordial and productive relations” sa pagitan ng dalawang bansa, na tumaas sa strategic partnership noong 2024, lumawig ang iba’t ibang aspeto ng mutual interest.
“During our comprehensive meetings, President Lee and I covered a wide-range of areas in our bilateral partnership, including defense and security, maritime cooperation, economic and development cooperation, and of course, people to people exchanges,” ang winika ni Pangulong Marcos.
“We agreed that we have made significant strides in advancing and deepening our bilateral cooperation towards the attainment of our mutually beneficial goals,” aniya pa rin.
Sa paglagda naman ng MOUs ukol sa intellectual property rights at hinggil sa agricultural sector, sinabi naman ni Lee na ang kasunduan ay “will facilitate the entry of new firms in their respective fields, stimulate regional trade and investment, and increase the utility of our existing Free Trade Agreement.”
Ayon kay Lee, sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos na “he will make proactive efforts to support Korean firms to enter the Philippine market and to alleviate the difficulties they face.”
Nangako naman si Lee na patuloy na susuportahan ang Korean defense industry firms “so they may actively participate in modernization projects of the Philippine military on the basis of the implementation agreement for the defense industry procurement.”
Sinabi pa ni Lee na ang expanded cooperation sa shipbuilding ay “create synergistic effects that will enhance the competitiveness of both our industries.”
Samantala sa paglagda sa MOU sa digital cooperation, umaasa si Lee na makatutulong ito na mapagtanto ng Korea ang pananaw nito na maging “top 3 artificial intelligence (AI) power.”
“On the basis of our MOU on digital cooperation, we have expanded our bilateral science and technology cooperation to include AI and next generation communication infrastructure. We hope that this will serve as a steadfast cornerstone in accelerating the digital transformation of the Philippines and help to realize Korea’s vision of becoming a top three AI power,” ang sinabi ni Lee. (KRIS JOSE)
