Japanese troops are set to return to Philippine soil for the first time since World War II after a landmark defence pact took effect this month, in a move analysts say will fast track joint military readiness and entrench Tokyo’s role as a key Indo-Pacific security partner.The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Japan and the Philippines entered into force on September 11, over a year after Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa signed the agreement during a ceremony in Manila with President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr present.
Japan’s National Diet approved the pact in June, six months after the Philippine Senate unanimously ratified it, paving the way for its full effect. The RAA will ease greater military cooperation between both countries by streamlining procedures for joint training, disaster response operations and force deployment.
The first agreement of its kind that Japan has signed in Asia, following similar pacts with Australia and the United Kingdom, will see Japanese forces back on Philippine soil for the first time since it occupied the Southeast Asian nation during second world war.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (left) and Philippine Defence Minister Gilberto Teodoro Jnr sign the Reciprocal Access Agreement on July 8, last year. Photo: AFPJapan and the Philippines, presently two of the United States’ closest Asian allies, have both taken stances against China’s increasingly assertive actions in the East and South China Seas amid maritime disputes.
AloJapan.com