Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has allayed fears that the proposed Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan may result in abuses.
Zubiri gave assurance that the military accord will be equitable and beneficial for both the Philippines and Japan.
“I don’t think we will have a problem with them when it comes to violations of our laws,” he said.
“That is why we have the RAA because that will now be the framework wherein they have to follow the rule of law when they enter the Philippines,” Zubiri explained.
The RAA, he said,’ will not be one-sided and will be beneficial to both countries.
The agreement provides for exchange of defense and military training. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will be training in the Philippines, and so will the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard personnel in Japan.
Zubiri, who first broached the idea of formalizing the defense agreement between Manila and Tokyo, also clarified that the RAA was not intended to allow Japan to put up their own military facilities in the Philippines.
“We need their expertise in training for these equipment from them. RAA is really good because this will pave the way for a higher strategic alliance with Japan as our friendly neighbor in the North,” Zubiri said.
Instead, the primary goal of the security deal was to provide guidelines and make it easier for the military personnel of both countries to train together, the senator clarified.
“This is only for training. There will be no military sites and facilities like EDCA,” Zubiri said, referring to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States.
“I don’t think that was the idea. This is only like the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US,” he stressed, adding that RAA will strengthen relations with Japan, especially in the area of defense cooperation.
According to Zubiri, it was only logical for the personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to train with their Japanese counterparts since 12 of the ships that the PCG is currently using were supplied by Japan.
“These are the ones that we can match with the Chinese coastguard vessels in the WPS (West Philippine Sea) because these are the larger vessels at 97 meters, they are almost 300 feet in length,” Zubiri noted.
He added that Tokyo had committed to provide five additional ships to the PCG during the two-day visit in Manila of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.
Earlier. the Japanese Premier, in a speech at the special joint session of the 19th Congress, vowed to help improve the country’s defense capabilities.
“This also goes as well for our troops who will go to Japan. They will also have to follow the Japanese laws because we’ll send our troops there to train,” Zubiri said.
