The Philippines is looking to Japan to partially finance its ballooning debt as Manila moves to strengthen ties between the two countries. The Department of Finance (DoF) says it is exploring issuing yen-denominated, or samurai bonds alongside or in place of conventional US-dollar bond issuance. Government debt has mushroomed in recent years, hitting 15.3 trillion pesos—around $264 billion in May—according to Bureau of the Treasury estimates. Manila reportedly plans to borrow a further $3