MANILA — The proposed Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan aims to support the activities that the two countries would hold, anchored on maintaining a rules-based international order, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Sunday.

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Government on Friday said negotiations for the RAA, or the counterpart for the country’s Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States, would finally be underway following President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

DETAILS STILL TO BE NEGOTIATED

Col. Medel Aguilar, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, said the context of the access agreement would still depend on Manila and Tokyo's discussions and how it would "support the activities that the two countries will hold."

"It would promote interoperability between the two countries promoting a common agenda, which is a rules-based international order," Aguilar said over Teleradyo Serbisyo.

The agreement has been touted as a way to strengthen security ties between the two countries and allow joint military exercises.

Japan has sat as an observer at the annual Balikatan exercises and has held smaller joint training exercises with the Philippine Coast Guard.

'HUGE EFFECT ON PHILIPPINE DEFENSE'

Philippines, he added, will push for national security in the negotiations and take advantage on the offers by Japan and United States and other allies.

"Ito ay may malaking epekto sa pagpapalakas ng depensa ng bansa because having allies, having friends, having forces that are ready to join you should there be a need for... not only in terms of war but also addressing natural calamities," he said.

"[This] is beneficial to every country having those kinds of agreement," he said.

Aside from the United States, the Philippines also has a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with Australia.

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These types of partnerships pave the way for Filipino and foreign soldiers to train together, as well as share military equipment and assets.

Kishida, in a joint conference, said Japan will help improve the Philippines' maritime law enforcement capabilities "including the provision of patrol vessels and defense equipment and technological cooperation including the transfer of warning and control radar."

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Marcos and Kishida during their meeting Friday reaffirmed their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas and stressed the need for adherence to a “rules-based approach in resolving competing claims in maritime areas.”

The Philippines and Japan in 2011 acknowledged that they are "two maritime countries bound by shared basic values and common strategic interests" and committed to work together on economic, as well as political and security matters.

In a joint statement that year, they also "confirmed that freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce, and compliance with established international law including the [UN Convention on the Law of the Sea] and the peaceful settlement of disputes serve the interests of the two countries and the whole region," including in the South China Sea.

AGREEMENT 'ENDANGERS FILIPINOS'

Makabayan bloc lawmakers, however, were wary of the joint security deal between the Philippines and Japan.

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list said the Philippines would become a military training ground for industrialized nations with the agreement with Japan.

This "endangers our population and they are just giving us scraps of their military hardware," according to the deputy minority leader.

Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas described the security agreement as alarming and the Philippine government to pursue an independent foreign policy instead.

Activist coalition Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), which held a protest outside the House of Representatives on Saturday as Kishida was addressing a joint session of Congress, warned the agreement could worsen tension over the West Philippine Sea.

It said positioning Japanese troops and equipment in the Philippines to counter China "might actually do the opposite — justify even more military actions from China."

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"This never-ending escalation puts the Philippines right smack in the middle of an arms race between China on one side, and the US, Japan and Australia on the other," BAYAN, which has criticized Chinese aggresiveness and US military presence, said.

It said that the Philippines should develop its own defense capabilities "through developing our own industrial and economic base" and by improving non-military relationships with other nations.

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