MANILA:The Philippines will seek more military agreements with other nations that would allow joint training, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, as the South-East Asian country tries to build on growing defence ties with the US and Japan.
Marcos, who is in Tokyo for the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit, said it’s "not sufficient” for just the Philippines and Japan to enter into "the so-called interoperability” of their armed forces, according to a statement issued Sunday (Dec 17) by his communications office.
"We really must get more of these kind of arrangements in place,” he said.
Marcos and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed during the Japanese leader’s visit to Manila last month to kick-start negotiations for the Reciprocal Access Agreement, which will facilitate mutual military visits and joint exercises. The Philippines is seeking to strengthen alliances as tension rises with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
In a meeting on Sunday, Marcos and Kishida agreed to continue coordination to reach an early conclusion of the negotiations of the Reciprocal Access Agreement as well as enhance cooperation between the coast guards of the two countries.
The Philippines this month agreed to initiate talks with France for a defence agreement that would allow troop visits. Earlier in 2023, it held the largest version of its flagship military exercise with the US in more than 30 years.
Tensions in the South China Sea escalated again this month after the Philippines protested Chinese ships’ ramming and blasting of water cannons at Filipino vessels, the latest in a series of encounters in recent months.
"The South China Sea situation is the most complex geopolitical challenge that the world faces,” the statement quoted Marcos as saying in an interview with the Japanese media on Saturday.
"Tensions have increased rather than diminished.”
Amid the strain in relations with China, the Philippines has struggled to start exploring energy resources in the South China Sea.
"We are still at a deadlock right now,” Marcos said, adding that the country has been in negotiations for energy exploration for over three years now but very little progress has been made, according to the statement.
"We have to try and resolve to see what role any countries can play,” he said.
Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping in January agreed to resume talks on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea and discuss maritime differences amicably. But ensuing incidents between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the contested waters challenged bilateral relations.
The Philippine leader said exploration must start before the country’s Malampaya gas field is exhausted. The Philippines has said that it expects its biggest source of natural gas off the coast of Palawan to be commercially depleted by 2027. - Bloomberg
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