JAPAN and Philippine air force officers during a bilateral training on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief held at Clark Air Base in Pampanga in June 2022. — JAPANESE EMBASSY PHOTO
The Philippines hopes to sign in the first quarter of the year an agreement with Japan allowing the deployment of military forces on each other’s soil, Manila’s defense secretary said on Tuesday
The Philippines is strengthening its ties with neighbors and other countries to counter what it calls an increasingly aggressive Beijing in the South China Sea.
The Philippines and Canada are also working on a memorandum of understanding for enhanced security cooperation, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of a cybersecurity forum.
Japan and the Philippines, two close allies of the United States, started negotiations on a reciprocal troop access deal in November. — Reuters
