(UPDATED STORY)

The Philippines and Japan committed to bring their defense cooperation to “an even higher level” to counter China’s increasing aggression in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

Thus, said Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and visiting Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen as they held a bilateral meeting in Makati City Monday, Feb. 24.

“The visit is once again the best proof that bilateral relations, to include defense and security relations between Japan and the Philippines, are robust, enduring, and strong,” Teodoro said.

According to Teodoro, both Manila and Tokyo prioritize the importance of a rules-based international order, a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

He said the enhanced defense partnership between the two countries would make them more resilient “against unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative.”

“We share also the common cause of resisting any unilateral attempt to reshape the global order without the consent of the participants of this global order and the attempt to reshape international law by force, and this endeavor we will resist,” Teodoro stressed.

The bilateral meeting came after the two defense chiefs visited key military facilities at the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga and at Wallace Air Station in San Fernando City, La Union on Sunday.

Nakatani acknowledged that the regional and international security environment “has become increasingly complex and intensified.”

“There is an increasing need for Japan and the Philippines to further enhance defense cooperation and collaboration in order to contribute to the peace and stability in the region and international community,” he said.

“Under such a harsh security environment, I look forward to a deep strategic discussion of this personally from the broader perspective in order to reach the level of our defense cooperation and collaboration, between Japan and the Philippines, to an even higher level,” he continued.

To address this, Nakatani pointed out three specific areas where the two countries could enhance their cooperation: joint military exercises, people-to-people exchange, and promotion of defense equipment and technology.

"We agreed to establish a strategic dialogue between high-level operational action officers and advance specific discussion toward deeper information sharing and advanced operational collaboration in order to further elevate bilateral cooperation, which has been built up thus far. We also agreed to commence discussion between defense authorities on military information protection mechanism," he said.

RAA ratification seen this year

Meanwhile, Teodoro said that the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) signed by Manila and Tokyo last year will be ratified by Japan “this year.”

“We look forward to its ratification by the Japanese Diet this year so that we can, shall we say, get to the ground running at full speed in implementing the Reciprocal Access Agreement,” Teodoro said. The Senate of the Philippines ratified the military access agreement in December last year.

To recall, the Philippines and Japan signed the RAA on July 8, 2024 to allow both countries to send military forces and equipment to each other’s territory for joint exercises. Through joint exercises, the two countries’ armed forces are expected to beef up their capabilities to deter security threats.

Both the Philippines and Japan have faced aggressive actions from China due to overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea. China claims parts of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as well as the Senkaku Islands, triggering tense confrontations with Manila and Tokyo in previous years.

To bolster the country’s air domain awareness, the DND signed a P5.5-billion contract with Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in August 2020 for the procurement of four units of air surveillance radar systems for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) through the Air Surveillance Radar System (ASRS) Acquisition Project under the second horizon of the military’s revised modernization program.

The delivery of the first radar system – a fixed one – to the Philippine Air Force (PAF) was made in December 2023; followed by a mobile radar in March 2024. Another fixed radar was delivered in January 2024 but its final Technical Inspection and Acceptance (TIA) was scheduled in May this year.

An additional fixed radar is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“I was very encouraged by my close observation that Japanese air surveillance radar systems are making an extremely large contribution to the air defense of the Philippines and the peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Nakatani shared.