By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
JAPANESE Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will meet with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in Manila next week to deepen economic, defense and political ties, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office said Mr. Ishiba would conduct an official visit to the Philippines on April 29 and 30. The President and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos will welcome Mr. Ishiba and his wife Yoshiko at Malacañan Palace on April 29.
“The meeting of President Marcos and Prime Minister Ishiba will aim to deepen and improve economic and development cooperation, political and defense engagements and people-to-people exchanges,” the palace said.
Security ties between the two US allies have strengthened in the past two years as Japan and the Philippines share common concerns over China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region.
Last year, Manila and Tokyo signed a landmark reciprocal access agreement allowing the deployment of their forces on each other’s soil.
The agreement is the first of its kind to be signed by Japan in Asia and coincides with increased Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s expansive claims conflict with those of several Southeast Asian nations.
The presidential palace said both leaders are also expected to exchange views on regional and global developments and explore new pathways toward peace and stability under Tokyo and Manila’s strengthened strategic partnership.
In December, the two countries signed a second security deal in which Japan agreed to provide the Philippine Navy with rigid hull inflatable boats and more coastal radar systems.
The two leaders previously met on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summits in Vientiane, Laos in October.
“The exchange of high-level visits is a main feature of Philippines-Japan relations,” the palace said. “President Marcos undertook an official visit to Japan in February 2023, which was returned by Japan’s then Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in an official visit in November 2023.”
Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said the meeting of the two leaders is a milestone in Philippine-Japan relations.
“This is a good sign while waiting for the final approval and signatory of the Japanese National Diet on the reciprocal access agreement,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “It shows that Manila is a reliable partner of Tokyo in the In-do-Pacific region.”
The military pact, which the Philippine Senate ratified in December, would let both countries expand military cooperation, build trust and address shared security challenges.
Manila was one of the first recipients of Tokyo’s official security assistance, a program that seeks to boost deterrence capabilities of partner countries.
“This meeting is an imperative not just to bolster, but more importantly to further expand the partnership between the Philippines and Japan,” Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a diplomacy instructor at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, said via Messenger chat.
Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, said the meeting could pave the way for Japanese investments in the Southeast Asian nation’s defense industry.
