Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. characterized the signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan on Monday as an instrument of trust, which should enhance the defense and military relations of the two nations.

“What remains in the future is the greater work of building confidence between and among our armed forces on both a bilateral basis and on a multilateral basis with allied nations and treaty partners,” Teodoro said during the 2+2 Defense and Foreign Ministerial Meeting at Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

The defense chief said the signing of the RAA was the beginning of both countries’ defense and military relations “in the purview of maintaining an open, inclusive and rules-based international order based on international law.”

Manila has been striking bilateral and multilateral security deals amid the continuing aggression of China in the country’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko signed the RAA, which aims to heighten defense cooperation between the two countries in the middle of the escalating tensions in the South China Sea.

Teodoro maintained the RAA does not have significant differences from the country’s Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States and Australia. He described it as “tailored” to conform to the requirements of the domestic laws of each country.

“That is the only difference. In essence, everything remains the same,” Teodoro pointed out, explaining that the RAA allows interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

“The way forward would be for our armed forces to come up with mutually acceptable confidence-building measures between and among themselves, which will include greater training and interoperability exercises,” he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing of the RAA at Heroes’ Hall in Malacañang.

Also present were Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Japan Defense Minister Kihara Minoru.

“Your presence here increases our confidence in the importance that the Japanese government puts on these extremely important agreements that we have,” Marcos told Yoko and Minoru.

“I’m very glad that we have come to this day. Once again, welcome to the Philippines, and I’m happy that you are able to come and visit, to visit and to be part of this important event,” Marcos said.

Yoko, for her part, considered the signing of the RAA an achievement as both Japan and the Philippines have made concrete progress in a wide range of areas of cooperation.

“To maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law, we would like to strengthen our partnership under Your Excellency’s leadership,” Yoko told Marcos.

Meanwhile, Minoru praised the leadership of both Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for bolstering the relationship between the two nations.

He also pledged to continue collaborating with Teodoro to further improve defense cooperation and exchanges between the Philippines and Japan.

The Philippines and Japan initiated negotiations for the RAA during Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to the Philippines last November.

The RAA with Japan was initially promised at the first Philippines-Japan Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting, also known as the 2+2, in April 2022.

The commitment was reiterated during President Marcos’ official visit to Japan in February 2023. The first formal negotiations on the RAA took place in Tokyo in November last year.

Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) for the Philippines was formalized on 3 November last year, coinciding with Prime Minister Kishida’s official visit to the Philippines.

Last April, President Marcos participated in a Trilateral Summit with US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida, where they reaffirmed their dedication to a peaceful, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, emphasizing their shared values of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.

Solons welcome pact

Senators on Monday welcomed the signing of the RAA with Japan, which would allow the transfer of defense personnel between the two countries for training and disaster relief operations.

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said he “fully supports” the new defense pact, stressing that it could help stop a “possible conflagration.”

“Anything that strengthens and increases our military’s capability is a deterrence to a possible conflagration. I fully support this agreement/arrangement,” Escudero said in a text message.

Senator Imee Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, also welcomed the signing of the RAA with Japan.

In a separate statement, Marcos vowed to “scrutinize every line and every word” of the defense agreement once it is referred to her committee.

“We welcome having stronger security ties with our neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region. However, as with other treaties, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will scrutinize every line and every word of that treaty once the same is referred to us to make sure that it is aligned with the national interest of the country,” she said.

The 1987 Constitution requires the vote of at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate for treaties and international agreements to be valid and effective.

Former Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who also lauded the signing of the RAA, said he would support the ratification of the treaty in the chamber.

“It needs Senate ratification and we will support it absolutely,” Zubiri said as welcomed the treaty which he said was “very timely and will boost the country’s defense interoperability with the friendly Asian neighbor.”

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito also viewed the signing of the defense pact as a “welcome development in terms of security in the region and against China’s continued expansionism.”

According to Ejercito, all the help and assistance that the Philippines can get from traditional allies and right-minded nations is “definitely most welcome against China’s continued bullying and aggression towards us.”

“There is strength in numbers,” he said.

Senator Grace Poe echoed the same sentiment as she underscored the importance of cooperation with “like-minded countries” such as Japan.

“It’s important to cooperate with like-minded countries, especially our neighbors to uphold our mutual interests,” Poe said.

For his part, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said the Philippines should be entering into more agreements of an economic nature.