On September 19, Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda hosted a reception at his residence to celebrate the awarding of the Foreign Minister’s Commendation to the Philippine Federation of Japan Alumni (PHILFEJA), the umbrella organization for Japanese scholarship alumni organizations in the Philippines.

Three (3) Japanese-Filipino members of the Philippine Team—Ms. Yuka Saso, Ms. Kiyomi Watanabe, and Ms. Junna Tsukii—won medals at the recently concluded 18th Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia.

On August 30, 2018, Embassy of Japan’s First Secretary Tetsuharu Mori, together with JICA Senior Representative Yo Ebisawa, attended the launching ceremony for the HARVEST Project in Cotabato City. HARVEST stands for Harnessing Agribusiness opportunities through Robust and Vibrant Entrepreneurship Supportive of Peaceful Transformation. The ceremony was also attended by Land Bank of the Philippines President and CEO Alex Buenaventura, ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia, Maguindanao Provincial Administrator Abdulrakman Asim, and Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process Cotabato City Director Wendell Orbeso.

MANILA, Philippines, 05 September 2018 – MILO Philippines opened year two of Road to Barcelona, the brand’s values-driven program in partnership with globally-renowned football club, FC Barcelona (FCB) during the recent press launch held in the MILO Stadium of Kidzania Manila. Coming from a successful run last year, MILO and FCB will hold this year’s local invitational camp in football hotbed, Cebu City on September 8-9 at the Cebu City Sports Center. Over 160 girls and boys ages 10 to 12 from around the country will participate in the world-class football camp for a chance to join the life-changing champion experience in Spain, the home of FC Barcelona.

NBA star LeBron James was track-side in Berlin to visit controversial South African runner Caster Semenya, as she set yet another track record at the IAAF World Challenge.

On Sunday, Semenya set a new record run time of 2:30.70 in the 1000M, and as she stepped off the track, L.A. Laker LeBron James was there for a “thumbs up” photo op, according to IOLNews:

“I must say that coach Yeng was a revelation. It was a Jekyll and Hyde transformation and how he brought that team together,” said MVP of Guiao.

“Coach Yeng has done a magnificent job,” he added of the PBA coach, who was given an extension of his duty as Gilas coach – all the way to the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

If successful, Pangilinan said Guiao might even be tapped to take over the Gilas coaching for good -- from its old mentor, Chot Reyes.

Olympian and Filipino table tennis star Ian Lariba died late Sunday night, September 2, following a year-long battle with acute myeloid leukemia. She was 23.

She was the first Filipina table tennis player to qualify for the Olympics, seeing action in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She also carried the Philippine flag in the opening ceremonies as the country's flag-bearer.

• The Government of Japan has revised the Country Development Cooperation Policy for the Republic of the Philippines.
• The revised development cooperation policy states that making full use of its strengths, Japan will extend economic cooperation for the Philippines’ pursuit of “inclusive growth, a high-trust and resilient society, and a globally competitive knowledge economy” that the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 states as its goals.