At the outset, we join the rest of the international community in mourning the tragic death of former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
During his term, he helped strengthen bilateral ties, making Japan one of our leading trading partners and the biggest source of official development assistance (ODA) with a total of over USD14 billion in concessional loans contracted by the Philippine government in the past two decades.
Now, the Land of the Rising Sun appears ready to bring bilateral relations to new heights with its recent offer to help modernize our military through technology transfers and outright equipment donations.
The offer, according to news reports, was coursed through working group-level talks on security cooperation in Tokyo between defense officials of the two countries.
Tokyo has offered to help Manila develop its own armored vehicles, ammunition and satellites, among others, through a collaboration between Japanese and Philippine companies.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has offered to transfer technology and work with a local counterpart to manufacture parts for an entire armored vehicle.
Japan also offered to donate to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) an “over-the-horizon communication system,” a system composed of three batteries, which can cover the entire island of Luzon.
The chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Air Force was also reported as having agreed to help the Philippines with air surveillance operations.
The foreign affairs and defense ministers of the two countries met in April to expand defense cooperation amid concerns over the situation in the East and South China Seas and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The officials agreed to boost defense cooperation through defense capability and capacity building, joint exercises, reciprocal visits, and the transfer of more equipment and technology.
The two countries signed an agreement to forge closer defense ties in January 2015 and have since conducted nearly 20 joint naval drills. In 2021, they also held joint air force exercises.
Japan has also transferred defense and technology equipment that could help the Philippines intensify patrols in the South China Sea.
All this suggests that Tokyo is willing to help countries in the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen their military capabilities as part of a strategy to counter China’s emergence as an economic and military superpower.
For the Philippines, Japan’s offer of military assistance is welcome as we seek to achieve a credible defense posture amid its territorial and maritime dispute with China. We do need to modernize our own armed forces given the changed geopolitical situation in this part of the world, and the sooner we do it, the better.