MANILA — Senate President Francis Escudero announced on Tuesday that the Senate has yet to receive the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan for ratification.
“To date, we haven’t received the RAA, so I can’t provide a timeline without even having the treaty,” Escudero told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
According to Escudero, the agreement is still under review by the Department of National Defense (DND), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Bureau of Customs. “It should have been reviewed before signing. Once signed, sending it to us should just be a ministerial process,” he remarked.
Escudero estimated that once the Senate receives the agreement, it will take about a month for deliberation and voting.
The defense agreement, signed in July by Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., sets a legal framework for the exchange of defense personnel between the two nations for training and joint operations. Negotiations between Tokyo and Manila began in November.
Escudero stressed the importance of receiving the agreement next month to ratify it within the year. “If it’s submitted after October, we might be too busy with the 2025 national budget, and it could be postponed until next year,” he said.
He emphasized the value of such agreements in preventing conflict. “I believe deterrence is the best way to avoid conflict. Agreements like this, while the Philippines doesn’t yet have a strong military, provide a means to preserve peace, not provoke war,” Escudero noted.
Escudero also addressed concerns about the Philippines’ relationship with China over the West Philippine Sea, asserting that the long-standing cultural and economic ties between the two countries should not be overshadowed by territorial disputes.
“This is one area where we disagree with China, but it doesn’t mean we should sever ties,” Escudero said.
In recent years, Japan has signed similar agreements with the United Kingdom and Australia, while the Philippines holds defense pacts with the United States and Australia and is eyeing one with France.