Philippines, Japan start talks on joint military drills

TOKYO – President Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday agreed to cooperate for the early completion of talks for the planned Reciprocal Access Agreement and to strengthen their coast guards in the face of China’s increasingly aggressive maneuvers in the South China Sea.

The agreement, which will allow Manila and Tokyo to send military troops to each other’s territory for joint drills and training, was discussed during the two leaders’ bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo.

“The two leaders concurred to continue coordination to reach an early conclusion of the negotiations of the Reciprocal Access Agreement and to enhance cooperation between the coast guards of the two countries,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two countries agreed to commence negotiations for the Reciprocal Access Agreement during Kishida’s official visit to the Philippines last month.

During their meeting, Marcos called the proposed agreement “extremely significant.”

“This reciprocal access agreement... will give us a greater capability in terms of not only security but also in terms of disaster preparedness and alleviation, adjustment and that is... very significant to us and will bring to us a greater capacity to maintain peace in the South China Sea,” Marcos said.

Kishida assured Marcos that Japan would steadily provide coastal radar systems through official security assistance.

Japan also wants to further strengthen cooperation in maritime safety capacity building based on the memorandum of cooperation between the coast guards of the two countries, Kishida added.

After the 25-minute meeting, Marcos and Kishida witnessed the exchange of two bilateral cooperation documents – the memorandum of cooperation between the Japan Coast Guard and the Philippine Coast Guard and the memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Meanwhile, Kishida thanked Marcos for visiting Japan and mourned the victims of the recent earthquake and explosion in Mindanao.

?“President Marcos expressed his appreciation for Japan’s welcome on his visit as well as Japan’s assistance to the Philippines to date, and stated that he would like to work with Prime Minister Kishida to further develop Japan-Philippines relations,” the Japanese foreign ministry noted.