The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday said that more than 1,000 Japanese military personnel will participate in this year’s Balikatan exercises with Filipino, US, and other allied troops from April to May.
AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans MGen. Rommel Cordova, during a Stratbase Institute forum, said this year’s Balikatan will be one of the largest in the history of the exercise.
“And a number of countries, Japan, for example, is going to send more than 1,000 troops in the exercise with Australia, I think Canada, New Zealand, and I think France. And another 18 countries are going to participate in our Balikatan International Observers Program,” Cordova said.
In the 2025 iteration of the exercise, around 14,000 Filipino, American, Australian, and Japanese troops, in an observer role, took part in the drills that started April 21 and ended on May 9 the same year.
The Philippines and Japan last year entered into force the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), allowing greater military cooperation between the two nations by streamlining procedures for the deployment of forces in each other’s territories for joint training and disaster response operations.
The RAA was signed in Manila on July 8, 2024, then ratified by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Nov. 5, 2024, and by the Philippine Senate on Dec. 16, 2024. The Japanese Diet approved the RAA on June 6, 2025.
