Noy to have lunch with Japan emperor

BAIS CITY, Negros Oriental, Philippines  - President Aquino is scheduled to have lunch with Emperor Akihito when he visits Japan this month.

 In an interview during the inauguration of the P265-million Mercado de Bais here yesterday, the President said he would also meet with new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. He will also visit the Fukushima Prefecture that was hit by nuclear disaster early this year.

“Basically, I’m meeting with the new Prime Minister. In Fukushima, we want to understand the relationship, more than anything. It’s an official visit. I’m also having lunch with the Emperor,” he said.

Emperor Akihito sits on the Chrysanthemum Throne. According to the Constitution of Japan, the emperor is a “symbol of the state and the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power.”

 The current emperor of Japan has official duties that include receiving foreign dignitaries, awarding decorations to Japanese citizens, convening the Diet, and officially appointing the Prime Minister, as selected by the Diet.         

“But more than that, we also want to express concretely our solidarity with everybody, in light of both the tsunami and earthquake,” Aquino said. “We are preparing a package on how we can assist them to recover after that.”                        

Aquino will visit Japan from Sept. 26 to 28, after his visit to the United States, where he will attend a forum on open governance and meet President Barack Obama sometime between Sept. 19 and 22, in New York and Washington.

“In Washington, we are a part of the partnership for open governance on the invitation of President Obama and President Rousseff of Brazil. There are 12 countries invited to this partnership, two in Asia – the Philippines and Indonesia,” he said.

“It’s quite a distinct honor. And I will be talking also before the World Bank. I understand there is a degree to be conferred by the Fordham University and we will take advantage of the opportunity to invite more businesses to come to the Philippines,” he said.