Phl, Japan set defense, foreign affairs meeting on 8 July

The Philippines and Japan are set to convene the 2+2 ministerial meeting on defense and foreign affairs on 8 July, the Department of National Defense said Friday. 

Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo will meet with their Japanese counterparts, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa for the second time, following the inaugural 2+2 meeting held in Japan in April 2022—where the two countries agreed to continue coordination toward the realization of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.”

The  2+2 framework with the Philippines is Japan's ninth grouping but only the second in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.

The 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministers Meeting is the highest consultative mechanism between the Philippines and Japan as of the present. 

It serves as a platform to further strengthen the decade-old Strategic Partnership between the two nations. 

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, bilateral defense and security issues affecting the region and exchange views on regional and international issues are lined up for the discussions of the four officials.m

Teodoro and Manalo will, likewise, hold separate bilateral meetings with their counterparts to tackle “areas of mutual concern” between the Philippines and Japan. 

The latest meeting also comes as the Philippines and Japan are negotiating for a reciprocal access agreement (RAA).

The proposed RAA will facilitate the procedures and set guidelines when Philippine forces visit Japan for training and joint exercises, and vice versa.