By Adrian H. Halili and John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporters

THE PHILIPPINES and Japan on Monday agreed to further deepen defense ties in the face of an “increasingly severe” security environment in the Indo-Pacific region.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo C. Teodoro, Jr. and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani met in Manila to tackle regional security issues, including the maritime situation in the East and South China Seas.

“The security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe and that it is necessary for the two countries as strategic partners to further enhance defense cooperation and collaboration to maintain peace and stability in Indo-Pacific,” Mr. Nakatani said through an interpreter.

He added that the Philippines and Japan have agreed to deepen cooperation on military exchanges, establish a high-level strategic dialogue among its military and deepen information sharing.

“A lot of enhancements and discussions have been done to move forward our already robust defense relationship and alliance,” Mr. Teodoro told a joint news briefing.

Enhanced partnership with Japan would help in “resisting any unilateral attempt to reshape the global order” by China or other countries, he said. “This partnership is proof of the common desire to have a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. also met with Mr. Nakatani later in the day and told him he hopes to find more “common ground” to build on existing defense and security partnerships between their countries.

“Japan and the Philippines have worked closely for so many decades,” the President told him during a courtesy call in Malacañang, based on a transcript sent to reporters by his office via Viber.

“I hope that with the many changes that occurred in our region, that [with] your visit, we will be able to discuss some of those anticipated changes that we are looking at in view of strengthening the relations between Japan and the Philippines,” he added.

“Japan and the Philippines have been making great developments in the area of defense and security cooperation by the leadership and partnership between your excellency and Prime Minister [Shigeru] Ishiba,” Mr. Nakatani told Mr. Marcos.

Security ties between the two US allies have strengthened in the past two years as Japan and the Philippines share common concerns over China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region.

Last year, Manila and Tokyo signed a landmark military pact allowing the deployment of their forces on each other’s soil.

The agreement is the first of its kind to be signed by Japan in Asia and coincides with increased Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s expansive claims conflict with those of several Southeast Asian nations.

A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 rejected China expansive claims in the waterway for being illegal. China has ignored the ruling.

Japan and China have repeatedly faced off around uninhabited Japanese-administered islands that Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu.

The Philippines and China have also clashed in the South China Sea around disputed shoals and atolls that fall within the Southeast Asian nation’s exclusive economic zone.

Mr. Nakatani visited military bases in northern Philippines on Sunday, including a naval station that houses a coastal radar that Japan donated as part of its 600-million-yen ($4 million) security assistance in 2023.

Manila was one of the first recipients of Tokyo’s official security assistance, a program aimed at helping boost deterrence capabilities of partner countries.

In December, the two countries signed a second security deal in which Japan agreed to provide the Philippine Navy rigid hull inflatable boats and additional coastal radar systems.

China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea has prompted the Philippines to seek more foreign defense agreements.

“The new defense development between Manila and Tokyo looks promising, Chester B. Cabalza, founding president at Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

”It gives sense to deeper friendship in advancing a maritime rules-based order to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” he added.

Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University Policy Center, said that a technology cooperation between the two nations is expected to boost the Philippines’ defense skills and equipment.

“The experience of working with Japanese defense personnel will only elevate our forces’ fighting [abilities],” he said via Messenger chat.

He added that a stronger alliance with Japan could provide “some degree of shelter” to the Philippines against increasing geopolitical rivalries in the region. “It’s not the long-term protection we want, but given our limited resources, alliances like this one are an important and necessary shield we rely on.” — with Reuters