PH invites Japan to join Balikatan 2025

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is inviting Japan to participate in next year’s joint military exercise between the Philippines and the United States, Balikatan executive agent Colonel Michael Logico said Wednesday.

Logico said that representatives from Japan’s armed forces are expected to join the concept development for the next Balikatan. For this year’s exercise, Japan is only set to send observers.

“I will say as early as now, we are already extending an invitation for Japan to take part in the next Balikatan exercise,” the Army officer said during a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview.

“As early as the concept development, kasama na ang representatives from Japan [will be included] so that we can firm up a wider participation from the armed forces [of] Japan,” he added.

Japan is among the 14 observer countries in Balikatan 2024, along with Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Logico said that Japan already expressed interest to join this year’s Balikatan as early as October 2023, but it was already too late for them at that time to commit to any participation.

This is why the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) will only be sending representatives to act as spectators for Balikatan 2024.

Scheduled from April 22 to May 10, this year’s Balikatan will be the biggest iteration of the annual joint military exercise with the participation of various government agencies and the armed forces of more nations.

Military forces of the Philippines and the US will also conduct activities outside the territorial waters of the country—beyond 12 nautical miles or 22.22 kilometers off the west coast of Palawan—for the first time since its inception.

Earlier this month, defense forces of the Philippines, Japan, United States, and Australia conducted the first Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) in the West Philippine Sea, in line with their commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation.

A Joint Vision Statement from leaders of the Philippines, United States, and Japan issued last week also stated that the three countries are looking at conducting more combined naval training and exercises together, with Manila set to receive support for its defense modernization priorities. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

Among the initiatives planned out are combined training with Southeast Asian regional partners, and a Japan-Philippines-US humanitarian assistance and disaster response exercise.