Senators express support for military agreement with Japan

MANILA, Philippines — The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) is likely to breeze through the Senate – which needs to ratify it – with Senate President Francis Escudero voicing his full support for the agreement.

“Anything that strengthens and increases our military capability is a deterrence to a possible conflagration. I fully support this agreement/arrangement,” Escudero said.

Former Senate president Juan Miguel Zubiri lauded what he called the timely signing of the agreement.

“It was in 2022 when then-ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko and I first discussed the possibility of pursuing a Reciprocal Access Agreement between our countries, and I brought this idea to President Marcos early into his administration,” Zubiri said. “So, I welcome this signing, and I am very hopeful that it will be a key partnership for achieving peace in the region.

“Japan is already an invaluable ally, and their assistance has been vital to the modernization of our Coast Guard and Navy. With this RAA, we can further strengthen our capacity-building through joint military exercises,” he pointed out.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito called the signing of the RAA “a welcome development in terms of security in the region and against China’s continued expansionism.”

“It’s important to cooperate with like-minded countries, especially our neighbors, and uphold mutual interests,” Sen. Grace Poe said.

“We welcome having stronger security ties with our neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region. However, as with other treaties, the Senate committee on foreign relations will scrutinize every line and every word of that treaty once the same is referred to us to make sure that it is aligned with the national interest of the country,” Sen. Imee Marcos said.

But for Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, the Philippines “should be entering more agreements of an economic nature, which would allow us to sell Philippine-made and Philippine-grown products/items to other countries.” — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Pia Lee-Brago, Sheila Crisostomo, Mark Ernest Villeza