Manila – Japan and the Philippines would soon start negotiations to hold joint and combined large-scale training and exercises similar to existing drills with the Americans.
Military spokeswoman, Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla, said the two allies would likely hold next year several territorial defense drills after the Philippine Senate ratified the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), a military pact similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States.
“We are looking at, of course, more interoperability exercises similar to what we are doing with Balikatan exercises and Salaknib exercises,” Padilla told a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo. “We’ll have more of those and look at other scenarios that we can address as well.”
The joint and combined “Balikatan” exercises and the army-to-army “Salaknib” drills were the two biggest annual military exercises that the Philippines and the United States held.
These military activities were held under the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries.
Padilla said there would also be separate Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercises with Japan.
A defense department spokesman, Arsenio Andolong, said Japan is set to ratify the same RAA agreement, allowing “more in-depth practical cooperative activities” with Tokyo.
“The RAA is set to be approved by the Japanese government’s National Diet, following Japan’s domestic legal process, to render it valid and binding upon both our countries,” said Andolong.
He said the defense department is looking forward to the implementation of the agreement, which he said “will enable our militaries to expand our defense cooperation and build trust and confidence amongst each other amid shared security challenges.”
“The RAA with Japan is a testament to the Philippines’ unequivocal commitment to peace, security, and stability of the Indo-Pacific region,” said Andolong.