Philippines, Japan elevate ties, begin talks for intel-sharing agreement 

The Philippines and Japan on Thursday, May 28, announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the start of talks toward an intelligence-sharing agreement — clear milestones of a deepening relationship backdropped by game-changing shifts in international order, including those caused by their common ally, the United States. 

The agreement and the start of negotiations were both announced in a joint press conference following a bilateral meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae late Thursday. Marcos is in Japan for a four-day state visit.

Before meeting Takaichi, Marcos addressed the Japan National Diet with a speech that emphasized the importance of peace and upholding the rules-based international order.  

“This milestone reflects the strength, depth, and breadth of our ties as we respond to the evolving challenges and opportunities of our time. Our discussions reaffirmed our commitment to further advance cooperation across key areas, including economic partnership, energy resilience, decarbonization, cooperation on defense and security, maritime matters, as well as emerging and future-oriented sectors,” Marcos said during the press conference. 

“Cooperation with the Philippines, one of the closest like-minded countries for Japan, is extremely important in realizing the updated Free and Open Indo-Pacific or FOIP, updated FOIP,” Takaichi said.

A Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is the highest level of diplomatic ties countries can have, short of an alliance. Japan is the Philippines’ first-ever Comprehensive Strategic partner. Tokyo has the same partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), chaired by the Philippines in 2026. 

General Security of Military Information Agreement or GSOMIA, meanwhile, is the framework through which two countries can share critical security and defense intelligence and information. Manila has a GSOMIA with the US, while Japan has a GSOMIA with South Korea and similar agreements with several countries, including the US. 

Both Marcos and Takaichi witnessed the signing of the following agreements covering:

• avoidance of double taxation
• expansion of cooperation in the agricultural and fisheries sector
• improvement of equitable access to quality health services
• continuing a long-standing partnership in human resource development
• space development and application
• artificial intelligence
• energy security
• supply chain resilience
• negotiations on the delimitation of maritime borders

GSOMIA and talks of the delimitation of maritime borders “are very important steps to further strengthen our defense cooperation and to uphold a rules-based maritime order,” said Marcos. “They will enhance the mutual trust between our two countries.”

Philippine-Japan bilateral ties have long run deep. From 2011 to 2015, Tokyo was Manila’s sole strategic partner, followed by Vietnam later on. Under Marcos, the Philippines’ list of strategic partners has grown to include Australia, South Korea, and India.   

Japan is the Philippines’ top source of Official Development Assistance. Manila is also the first recipient of Tokyo’s Official Defense Assistance. Aid and assistance from Japan to the Philippines spans several diverse areas, from humanitarian disaster response, trade, transportation infrastructure, and peace in the Bangsamoro, to even maritime domain awareness.

In 2024, the two countries signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement, which allows the deployment of combat troops from either country for training, humanitarian, or even defense reasons. In 2026, Tokyo deployed 1,400 of its Japan Self-Defense Forces to participate in Balikatan 2026, the annual military exercise between the Philippines and the US. 

The two countries are bound together by interests, values, and concerns that overlap. Both nations have repeatedly advocated for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order. The two are also recipients of maritime and territorial encroachments by their superpower neighbor, China. 

Takaichi noted that they both “concurred to accelerate the exchange between the defense authorities towards the transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and others.”

“In order to respond to the regional strategic environment, which is growing more severe, Japan will further deepen cooperation with the Philippines,” she said.

The Prime Minister added that Japan wants to deepen its economic ties with the Philippines and ASEAN.

Speaking before members of the Japan-Philippines Parliamentary Friendship League on May 27, Marcos noted that his engagements in Japan come “at a time of profound transformation in the international system,” and that times call “not for retreat nor hesitation, but for deeper engagement.”

“In such an environment, the importance of trusted partnerships that are anchored in shared values, mutual respect, and adherence to international law has never been more evident,” he said.

It’s a message Marcos has made in many of his speeches overseas, more so since the oil crisis triggered by the US and Israel’s war on Iran. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Philippines and Japan, he said, reflects an “exceptional level of trust” between the two Asian nations. – Rappler.com 

المصدر: Rappler (PH)