From the Philippine Star (Jul 4, 2023): EDCA, VFA-type partnership with Japan pushed (By Michael Punongbayan)
Former defense secretary and now Bases Conversion and Development Authority chairman Delfin Lorenzana said possible future cooperation between the two countries could mean forging an alliance anchored on something similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States. Philstar.com / File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may well be on its way toward forging a more solid partnership with Japan that will allow both countries to jointly and more effectively counter China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
Former defense secretary and now Bases Conversion and Development Authority chairman Delfin Lorenzana said possible future cooperation between the two countries could mean forging an alliance anchored on something similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States.
Such stronger partnership may also give birth to an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)-type partnership that will allow Japanese military forces access to military bases in the Philippines.
“I think it’s possible. Now that we are going into a trilateral maritime patrol with the US, I think the next step there is to come up with an arrangement to make the patrol here consistent, constant, because we could not patrol an area for one day and leave them and then come back next year,” he told reporters.
“So the key here is accessibility… and we are very accessible to the areas like West Philippine Sea and South China Sea. And what’s happening now with this joint trilateral patrol between the three countries, we need to step up some more cooperation which is visitation, ship visits, presence maybe of personal gear, to repair ships that are coming here. We may also have to put up depots that could supply fuel and everything that a ship needs to be here,” he added.
Lorenzana said a VFA-like and EDCA-like partnership with Japan was part of the long-term plan when he was defense chief.
Stronger defense relations between the Philippines and Japan are very beneficial, he added, considering that the former is dealing with two very developed countries who are superpowers. He noted that Japan is a regional power with a strong economy and strong armed forces.
“As of now we have not yet any capabilities to protect our area, that’s why we are partnering with other stronger forces,” said Lorenzana, who was joined by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and Armed Forces chief Gen. Andres Centino when he received his Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star award from Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa.
The Philippines and Japan can definitely help each other and pool resources to become a more credible force, he added.
Like the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, Japan also has territorial issues with China, which has claims on Japan’s Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
During the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Hiroshima last May, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida joined US President Joe Biden, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in asking China to stop its militarization activities in the South China Sea.
They also jointly declared that the July 2016 Arbitral Ruling declaring China’s vast maritime claims as void or baseless in favor of the Philippines is legally binding and should be upheld.
The G7 leaders, in a communiqué, said they “remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas” and stressed that “there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and we oppose China’s militarization activities in the region.”
The Philippines, Japan and the US are now inching closer toward forming a trilateral defense alliance that will allow the conduct of joint maritime activities and naval exercises amid China’s continuing aggressive behavior in the South and East China Seas.
Just two weeks ago, Año and his counterparts Jake Sullivan of the US and Takeo Akiba of Japan met in a historical meeting in Tokyo to discuss how they can work on maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a joint statement, the top security officials announced that they have confirmed plans to enhance trilateral cooperation and trilateral defense and security capabilities.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may well be on its way toward forging a more solid partnership with Japan that will allow both countries to jointly and more effectively counter China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
Former defense secretary and now Bases Conversion and Development Authority chairman Delfin Lorenzana said possible future cooperation between the two countries could mean forging an alliance anchored on something similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States.
Such stronger partnership may also give birth to an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)-type partnership that will allow Japanese military forces access to military bases in the Philippines.
“I think it’s possible. Now that we are going into a trilateral maritime patrol with the US, I think the next step there is to come up with an arrangement to make the patrol here consistent, constant, because we could not patrol an area for one day and leave them and then come back next year,” he told reporters.
“So the key here is accessibility… and we are very accessible to the areas like West Philippine Sea and South China Sea. And what’s happening now with this joint trilateral patrol between the three countries, we need to step up some more cooperation which is visitation, ship visits, presence maybe of personal gear, to repair ships that are coming here. We may also have to put up depots that could supply fuel and everything that a ship needs to be here,” he added.
Lorenzana said a VFA-like and EDCA-like partnership with Japan was part of the long-term plan when he was defense chief.
Stronger defense relations between the Philippines and Japan are very beneficial, he added, considering that the former is dealing with two very developed countries who are superpowers. He noted that Japan is a regional power with a strong economy and strong armed forces.
“As of now we have not yet any capabilities to protect our area, that’s why we are partnering with other stronger forces,” said Lorenzana, who was joined by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and Armed Forces chief Gen. Andres Centino when he received his Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star award from Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa.
The Philippines and Japan can definitely help each other and pool resources to become a more credible force, he added.
Like the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, Japan also has territorial issues with China, which has claims on Japan’s Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
During the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Hiroshima last May, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida joined US President Joe Biden, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in asking China to stop its militarization activities in the South China Sea.
They also jointly declared that the July 2016 Arbitral Ruling declaring China’s vast maritime claims as void or baseless in favor of the Philippines is legally binding and should be upheld.
The G7 leaders, in a communiqué, said they “remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas” and stressed that “there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and we oppose China’s militarization activities in the region.”
The Philippines, Japan and the US are now inching closer toward forming a trilateral defense alliance that will allow the conduct of joint maritime activities and naval exercises amid China’s continuing aggressive behavior in the South and East China Seas.
Just two weeks ago, Año and his counterparts Jake Sullivan of the US and Takeo Akiba of Japan met in a historical meeting in Tokyo to discuss how they can work on maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a joint statement, the top security officials announced that they have confirmed plans to enhance trilateral cooperation and trilateral defense and security capabilities.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/07/04/2278490/edca-vfa-type-partnership-japan-pushed
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