President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reaffirmed his commitment to strengthen the relations between the Philippines and Japan, especially in terms of the two countriesโ defense.
Amid Chinaโs aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines and Japan signed an agreement on July 8, 2024.
This agreement is the Philippine-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement.
It aims to facilitate cooperation between the two countries in responding to disasters and conducting military drills.
Manila and Tokyo also signed a โTerm of Referenceโ for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities of the Japan self-defense forces in the Philippines.
This also aims to ease the visits of Japanโs self-defense forces to the Philippines.
Therefore, some see this as a good plan, especially in terms of the Philippinesโ defense of its territory.
โItโs good, especially if they focus on defense against China, because the issue in the West Philippine Sea is still a big problem,โ says Marcial Flores, resident.
(Maganda lalo na kung tututukan nila yung sa defense laban sa China kasi malaking problema pa rin yung issue sa West Philippine Sea.)
On August 2, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General of Japan, Motegi Toshimitsu, visited Malacaรฑan Palace.
Here, PBBM emphasized the strong relationship between two countries.
In addition, PBBM also acknowledged the need to further strengthen their cooperation in other aspects.
โIโm happy that you come at a time where the relations between the Philippines and Japan are stronger than they have been in our entire history,โ sys PBBM.
Japan also sees the Philippines as an important ally.
It can be recalled that the Philippines and Japan celebrated 68 years of normalized relations on July 23, 2023, and 12 years of strategic partnership since September 2011.
In February last year PBBM made an official visit to Japan, and in November of the same year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Malacaรฑang.
