Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri is urging the Philippine and Japanese governments to begin exploratory discussions on forging a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two countries.

“Speaking with Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko last year, I had brought up the idea of pursuing a VFA with Japan,” said Zubiri at a media interview at the Okura Hotel in Tokyo.

Zubiri is in Japan as part of the Philippine delegation for President Marcos’ visit.

The Philippine-United States VFA became effective on May 27, 1999.

While no formal talks about the VFA have yet reached Marcos, Zubiri sees the President’s meeting with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to be an opportune time to finally go into initial talks about the agreement.

The Senate chief said the proposed PH-Japan VFA ‘’make strategic sense.’’

‘’Japan is an ally, and with ongoing territorial disputes over our waters, we stand to benefit from stronger security cooperation with our allies,’’ he explained.

“Japan is already offering vital support to our Coast Guard, not just through vessels and equipment but also through other capacity-building opportunities such as training,” he said.

“The VFA will strengthen our partnership even further,’’ he added’

Zubiri emphasized that ‘’peaceful diplomacy remains our foremost move toward conflict resolution, but we also have to be prepared for any eventuality. With Japan on our side, we will be able to empower our Coast Guard and Armed Forces in times of conflict.”

“Apart from the VFA being crucial to building up our security and defense, it will also be massively helpful to us in times of natural calamities and disasters,” he stressed.

“Let us remember that Japan is just as disaster-prone as we are, and so they have made it a priority to ensure that their armed forces are well-equipped to conduct disaster management efforts and rescue operations. Our armed forces can use their disaster management training and knowledge, to help us become a more resilient country as well,’’ he pointed out.

“Given all the benefits we stand to gain from the VFA, I am hopeful that we will be able to begin formal discussions about it soon, and I am pretty certain that we will be able to garner enough support in the Senate for it,’’ he said.