09/11/2026
On the first anniversary of the Japan-PH RAA
Today the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the two countries . Inked on September 11 last year, the agreement allows the entry of both countries’ military personnel, ships, and aircraft for “training, joint exercises, and disaster relief operations under clear legal” rules.
Signing as the third country, after Australia and the UK signed the same agreement with Japan, the Philippine government says it ONLY aims to strengthen their defense partnership and gain more support for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and clarified that it does not create a military alliance or allow either country to send troops without permission.
They say, it SIMPLY makes military cooperation between the two countries easier and more organized.
This is nothing new and we have heard this before: a different script but the same play.
Almost the same promises accompanied the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in 1999, with its annual Balikatan exercises, and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation (EDCA) in 2014. Yet these agreements have also raised serious concerns about their impact on local communities, human rights, and justice.
In Olongapo and Angeles, an estimated 50,000 women have been pushed into prostitution, a conservative figure only as reflected on reported cases, along the former US Subic and Clark military bases.
Justice was also elusive in the cases of “Nicole” and Jennifer Laude, which exposed questions about how U.S. troops are treated under the VFA. From U.S. custody of accused personnel US Marine Daniel Smith to US Marine Pemberton’s 2020 absolute pardon. When U.S. troops are involved in crimes, does the Philippines truly have control over its own justice system?
The impunity of the US military ensured by the Philippine government has been under fire. In the same vein, the RAA raises the same dilemmas. How can the Filipino people ensure that the rights of the people are given priority over the political and military interests of the government’s partners?
We must also point out that both countries, the US and Japan, committed wartime atrocities and human rights violations during their colonial rule. The presence of both armies in Philippine soil does not only violate our sovereignty—it also distorts the countries’ historical accountability to its war crimes.
What we are seeing is a full circle moment of a joke—70 years of normalization of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan: from military occupation to maritime “defense” and “cooperation”.
For now, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) only participated in war games and launched missiles in the annual Balikatan. With the intensifying conflict in the Pacific, and the Philippine government’s subservience to Washington’s interest, the JSDF shall be given incrementally expanding privileges. The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) signed by both governments last month is a proof.
But the militarization and securitization of Japan-Philippines’ diplomatic relations did not arise from anything bilateral. This is the US’ “Pivot to Asia” strategy in policy and action. Both countries, under global imperialist domination, follow the whim and wishes of the declining empire at the expense of the people.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro roleplays a “nationalist superhero” but in fact he symbolizes the country’s neocolonial nature. None of his talking points change the fact that our sovereignty is being eroded so that our land and seas remain a link in the US’ island chain strategy.
We should not fall for the false binaries peddled by global superpowers. We should hold the Marcos government accountable to its neocolonial subservience and sell-out of our land. We must pursue an independent foreign policy based on the needs of the Filipino people.
Junk RAA! Junk ACSA! Junk VFA! Junk EDCA!
Fight for a nationalist and independent foreign policy!
