PH, Japan nearing agreement on defense pact – Teodoro

The Philippines and Japan are finalizing talks for a defense agreement that will allow Japanese forces to train with Filipino counterparts, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said, noting that both sides are "close to signing" it this year.

Teodoro, who spoke to journalists at the sidelines of Sweden's National Day reception Thursday night, has declined to give a date for the signing of the accord, which is similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States, but said, "it is safe to say it's gonna be signed."

"Hopefully it's going to be signed soon with Japan," he said.

Asked on the status of negotiations for the pact, called Reciprocal Access Agreement, Teodoro replied: "Very close to signing the RAA."

Last May, Kyodo News quoted Teodoro as saying that the RAA would be finalized in July. Teodoro reportedly said that the deal would be signed during a bilateral security meeting in Manila.

Once signed and ratified, the accord will allow more Japanese forces to join annual military exercises involving the Philippines and the United States, including the large-scale Balikatan exercises, and allow Japanese forces to help provide humanitarian assistance faster in the future.

Manila has been expanding maritime and defense security cooperation with allies amid increasing tensions with China in several hotspot areas in the South China Sea, including the Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls Ayungin Shoal, and Scarborough Shoal, which Filipinos call Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal.

The Philippines will also start negotiations with France for a VFA and recently signed separate defense cooperation agreements with Canada and the United Kingdom.

A VFA between the United States and the Philippines took effect in 1999 and now serves as a legal framework that allows American forces to visit the country temporarily for military exercises and provide humanitarian and disaster-response assistance.

Australia and the Philippines signed a similar accord in May 2007 called the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, or SOVFA, which they separately ratified later.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution prohibits foreign troops from establishing permanent military bases in the country. — VDV, GMA Integrated News