EXPLAINER | Forging Maritime Security Ties with the PH-Japan RAA

China's rising aggression in the West Philippine Sea stirs urgency to roll out an immediate and comprehensive approach in dealing with maritime security concerns. However, as the country finds itself uncomfortably caught between competing foreign powers, it needs to chart the certainty of its ‘strategic alliances,’ more so with the most recent defense cooperation agreement forged with Japan, a nation with which it might still be reckoning— historically speaking. 

A Reciprocal Access Agreement or RAA between two countries sets the terms for their armed forces to enter, operate, and train together in a host country. For the Philippines and Japan, it means that the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) would be able to participate in bilateral or multilateral military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and vice versa.

The RAA has similarities to, but not identical to, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that the Philippines and the United States signed in 1999. Both are two types of defense cooperation agreements, but serve different purposes and have distinct features. Essentially, the VFA is more concerned with legal and logistical aspects of the presence of foreign troops. 

In July 2024, the RAA was signed by Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Japanese Foreign Minister (FM) Kamikawa Yoko, the two nations' foreign and defense ministers, at Malacañang Palace, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessing the event. 

Japan's national parliament, known as the National Diet, officially ratified the RAA on June 6. This came six months after the Philippine Senate gave its approval in December 2024. 

Having existing RAAs only with two other countries, mutual defense negotiations with Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) took longer before finally reaching “entry into force” status— with  Australia taking 19 months and the United Kingdom eight months. 

Amid ongoing territorial tensions, the AFP reported on June 10 that they are set to craft the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for RAA with Japan soon. An IRR details key provisions on how it will be implemented in practice, such as access and jurisdiction, ensuring that Japanese forces operate lawfully on Philippine soil. 

Since Japan's RAA ratification, the two countries have conducted one of their first maritime drills called “maritime cooperative activity (MCA)" within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on June 16. 

Discussions over a potential military access agreement with Japan began in 2015, during the administration of Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III.

Against the backdrop of China’s looming aggression in Philippine waters, Aquino signed a comprehensive joint declaration reaffirming “close ties” between Philippines and Japan. This paved the way for negotiations on acquiring defense equipment and technology from Japan.

In April 2022, just months before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. formally took office, the Philippines and Japan made a “commitment” into an RAA during the first 2+2 bilateral ministerial meeting in Tokyo. 

In Marcos Jr.’s first presidential visit to Japan in February 2023, he reached an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to prioritize "economic security" and strengthen the defense relationship between respective nations under the condition that Japan would “protect Filipino fishermen, maritime territory.”

While Kishida raised potential for a reciprocal access agreement during Marcos’s visit, the Philippines was still reviewing the prospects. However, an agreement on terms of reference was made to facilitate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations (HADR) between the JSDF and the AFP.

The HADR includes provisions similar to that of a reciprocal military access agreement,  particularly with regards to enabling joint exercises and drills between the forces of both countries.

In Kishida’s visit to Manila in November 2023, Philippines and Japan have agreed to begin talks on a bilateral defense deal, which would allow both countries to deploy troops to each other's territories and facilitate joint military exercises.

Alongside marking the start of formal negotiations, Japan had also granted the country  a P235.5-million aid in Official Security Assistance to strengthen the Philippine Navy's coastal radar systems.

Since entering into force, Japan’s RAAs with Australia and UK have resulted into immediate defense cooperation activities, with Australia notably participating in Yama Sakura joint exercise with the U.S. army and the UK  carrying out its joint drills through the Exercise Vigilant Isles. 

The Philippines maintains a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with Australia, in addition to its long-standing VFA with the US. 

When the Senate had yet to ratify the agreement, the majority of the senators pledged their support to its fulfillment.

Former Senate president Juan Miguel Zubiri commended the timely signing of the agreement.

“It was in 2022 when then-ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko and I first discussed the possibility of pursuing a Reciprocal Access Agreement between our countries, and I brought this idea to President Marcos early into his administration,” he said.  

Sen. Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, and Joseph Victor Ejercito also expressed their support for the agreement. 

Meanwhile, for Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, the Philippines should prioritize entering into agreements with “economic nature.”

For some groups, it would seem like a reversal of affairs from when Japan colonized the country during World War II as the ratification of the RAA would mean strengthening military ties between the two countries.

Progressive militant groups have denounced the RAA, expressing similar concerns over the  joint annual military exercises involving the Philippines and the US, such as the annual "Balikatan" exercises.

The militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) released a statement denouncing the RAA, recalling Japan's World War II militarism, which it claimed caused suffering in the Philippines and other Asian nations.

Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas stated that the RAA is a threat to national sovereignty and regional peace, stressing that it is “essentially another Visiting Forces Agreement that will allow Japanese Self-Defense Forces to participate in military exercises in the Philippines, primarily the United States-Philippines Balikatan.”

“We must not forget the historical context of this agreement. Japan has yet to fully atone for its wartime atrocities, particularly the systematic abuse of comfort women,” she added.

In December 2024, all 19 senators in the Senate session voted to ratify the RAA with Japan. According to the resolution, the agreement would serve as a way to “deepen the security and defense cooperation” between Philippines and Japan amid shared security challenges. 

While the Philippines is advancing its military agreements with Japan, many Filipino victims and survivors of sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers - also known as “comfort women” - continue to seek a direct apology and compensation from the country’s government.   

In a 2+2 defense and foreign ministerial meeting, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Press Secretary Mariko Kaneko resurfaced the apologies extended by Japan for its atrocities during World War II. She also cited the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty to affirm that Japan has legally settled the reparation commitments to the victims. 

In implementing its atonement activities, The Government of Japan had cooperated with the Asian Women‘s Fund (AWF), a Japanese government initiative in 1994 established to distribute monetary compensation to comfort women in South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. 

For the aging Filipino comfort women, the state still falls short in providing them with due justice. In 2019, 24 of the victim-survivors from the Malaya Lolas organization have sued the national government at the United Nations (UN) in 2019 to compel the state to raise their claims and heed their right to reparations against the Japanese government.  

After investigations on the complaint,  the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) of the UN had found that the Philippines breached its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It stated that the government violated their rights by "failing to provide reparation, social support and recognition commensurate with the harm suffered."  

In March 2023, the Philippine government stated that it would review the findings presented in the UN report, while also pointing out that there have already been some reparations and the Supreme Court was also looking into the matter. 

Moreover, after the resolution, Marcos Jr. created a technical working group (TWG)  to work with agencies in identifying pathways for substantial aid for the victims.   

In an interview with Rappler, Malaya Lola lawyer Virgie Suarez said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) financial assistance was in only three installments, each amounting to P10,000 or P30,000, with the addition of a one-time P5,000 educational assistance given to each of three chosen grandchildren or great-grandchildren.  

“More than a year after the UN Committee decision, the Philippine government still fails to respond in an appropriate and timely manner to its treaty obligations under CEDAW,” the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), who are also lawyers offering legal assistance to the Malaya Lolas, said in a statement.

 

During a trilateral leaders’ meeting in Washington, DC in April 2024, the US, Japan, and Philippines expressed “serious concern” over China’s actions in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. 

Regional analysts and defense security officials see the PH-Japan RAA as a deepening of defense cooperation as it aligns with a shared vision for regional stability. 

“Aligned with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to deepen strategic alliances with like-minded nations, the RAA reinforces our mutual dedication to a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific,” AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said during the second Philippines-Japan Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting on July 2024.

Japan and China have an ongoing separate maritime dispute in the East China Sea, specifically around the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which China calls the Diaoyu islands.

In an interview with Rappler, Joshua Espeña, vice president of Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said the RAA is a means for Japan to play a more “proactive security role in the Indo-Pacific.” 

Espeña stated that the Philippines' security sector is to benefit from the RAA as it advances and implements the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC).

“CADC means the Philippine archipelago is secure if it can defend itself while working with partners like Tokyo to secure the fringes of what Manila cannot secure in itself. The implication though is that Tokyo and Washington need linkages and enablers, hence the RAA,” he said. Marcos Jr. and Ishiba had discussed starting negotiations on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), emphasizing exchange of supplies and logistical support to boost defense cooperation between the two countries.

Also citing the CADC, Dr. Renato Cruz De Castro, Professor of International Studies at De La Salle University, stated that security partnerships with the Philippines go “beyond holding military exercises and providing military hardware,” suggesting that it strengthens the country’s agency in being a “capable, resilient, and reliable security actor in the Indo-Pacific region.”

On the other hand, China criticized the RAA during its signing, pointing out Japan’s colonial history with the Philippines. 

“Japan needs to reflect on that part of history and act prudently in fields related to military and security,” Lin Jian, spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said in a press conference held on the same day when the agreement was signed.