TOKYO, Japan— President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday agreed to continue the coordination of Philippines and Japan to reach an early conclusion of the negotiations of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA).

During the two leaders’ bilateral meeting in the afternoon, Marcos stressed the importance of the said agreement.

RAA, like the visiting forces agreement (VFA) with the United States, if approved, will pave the way for a stronger military cooperation between the Philippines and Japan through joint military exercises, sharing of equipment and assets, among others.

• Japan, ASEAN to vow to widen cooperative fields as ties mark 50 years

“The other agreement that we consider to be extremely significant, especially with the two countries, is this Reciprocal Access Agreement that will give us a greater capability in terms of not only security, but also in terms of disaster preparedness,” Marcos told Kishida.

“That is something that really is very, very significant to us and will bring to us a greater capacity to maintain the peace in the South China Sea,” he added.

During the bilateral meeting, the two leaders also witnessed the exchange of two memorandum of cooperation.

One is between the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Republic of the Philippines in the Field of Environmental Protection, and another is between the Philippine Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard.

RELATED VIDEO

Watch more News on iWantTFC