President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is open to the idea of forging a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with Japan but stressed that it should not look provocative so as not to escalate tensions in the South China Sea.
Marcos said this after Manila and Tokyo agreed to boost defense and security ties during his five-day official working visit to Japan last week.
In an interview with the media onboard Philippine Airlines Flight PR001, the President said there was no reason to thumb down the proposed VFA if, after study, it would be deemed beneficial to the Philippines.
"If it will be of help to the Philippines in terms of protecting, for example, our fishermen, protecting our maritime territory. If it's going to help," Marcos said.
"Kung talagang makakatulong (If it would really be helpful), I don't see why we should not adopt it," he added.
However, President Marcos is wary as it might increase tensions in the South China Sea.
"We have to be careful because we don't want to appear provocative. Parang imbis na pinapakalma natin ang sitwasyon sa South China Sea, ang ginagawa natin mas magiging mainit (We might make the situation in the South China Sea worse instead of calming things down). That's not what we want," he said.
"As long as we can achieve that, if it is appropriate, if it does not constitute the danger of increasing tensions, then it might be useful for the Philippines," he added.
Marcos said the talks would start as soon as he returned to Manila.
"As soon as we get back, we will start talking to the – we will talk already to the Embassy of Japan," he said.
Tripartite agreement
President Marcos said that Tokyo's proposed US-Japan-Philippines tripartite agreement with the United States is just a "matter of agreeing" because there were no details yet.
"We really have to discuss what is – what exactly does that entail and, of course, we have to talk to the Americans also para makita kung ano ba talagang (to see which) roles that are going to be played should there be a tripartite agreement," he said.
"Yung proposal is in concept pa lang, in principle pa lang (The proposal is still a concept, it's in principle). We don't really have details yet," he added.
"Siguro (Perhaps), sometime down the road, we will sit down with our Japanese counterparts and American counterparts at tingnan talaga natin (and see) what it is really that they want. It's only been proposed in principle, and that's as far as it goes, so far," he continued.
NATO-like alliance
President Marcos admitted that the defense agreement between the Philippines and Japan might develop into a NATO-like agreement with other Asian countries. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states.
However, he said having the United States as part of it might be out of the question.
"There was already an attempt to have a NATO in Southeast Asia, may SEATO dati (There was a SEATO before)," Marcos said.
"Kaya nabuo yung ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) eh kasi ayaw ng mga Asian ng American-led na alliance. So kailangan members lang ng ASEAN (ASEAN was formed because Asians don't want an American-led alliance. It has to be members of ASEAN)," he added.
According to the President, there are already partnerships within ASEAN and ASEAN with its foreign partners.
"We'll just pursue all the multilateral, bilateral connections and relationships and agreements that we can para nga marami tayong kasama. Kung tayo lang nag-iisa, eh isang boses lang tayo (so we can have more allies. We only have one voice if it's only us)," he said.
"Maganda kung mas marami ang sumasang-ayon doon sa ating gusto (It would be good if many countries agree with what we want)," he added.