The Philippines and Japan are expected to reaffirm their decades-long strategic partnership during the inaugural Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on April 9.
The inaugural meet, which is also dubbed 2+2, was agreed by President Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during their tele-summit in November 2021.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the 2+2 is the next logical progression in the deepening policy and security cooperation between the two countries.
It is envisioned to be a "key component in further strengthening the decade-old Philippine-Japan Strategic Partnership."
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana will head the Philippine delegation.
They are set to meet their Japanese counterparts to discuss how the two countries can work together amid the growing complexity in the regional and international security environment.
"The close ties between the two countries for six decades now continue to expand to various areas of cooperation, and have resulted in the improvement of the Philippines’ maritime law enforcement capabilities, increased maritime domain awareness, and enhanced counterterrorism and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) capabilities, among other areas," the DFA said.
Japan is only the second country with which the Philippines has a similar mechanism after the United States.
The meeting is expected to lay the groundwork for both sides' security partnership in the next decade.