Philippines seeks gain amid China-Japan row

The Philippines is seeking to lure investment from Japanese companies that are being hurt by their country's bitter territorial dispute with China, a senior trade official said Wednesday.

Japanese firms in China have been targeted in recent weeks by demonstrators angered by the row over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, forcing some to shut down.

Philippine Trade Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio said the government was courting 15 of these companies with the best potential for relocating some of their operations from China to the Philippines.

"We don't want to say we want to take advantage of the misery of others but we're trying to be practical and help the Japanese," Panlilio told reporters.

"We have marching orders to our trade attaches to approach these Japanese companies, both in China and Japan."

To attract the Japanese, he said the government was offering tax incentives while promoting a well educated population, economic stability and President Benigno Aquino's efforts to stamp out corruption.

He said that without the diplomatic tensions, rising labor costs in China were already making the Philippines more attractive for Japanese companies.