tg777 online casino Senate OK of PH-Japan military pact seen this month
Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. —Photo from the official Facebook page of the Philippine Department of National Defense
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s military access deal with Japan will be submitted to the Senate this month for ratification, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Monday.
The Philippines and Japan signed a landmark reciprocal access agreement (RAA) in July to provide the legal framework for both countries to send troops to each other’s territory for joint training.
Article continues after this advertisement“We expect the last concurrence within a week or next week,” Teodoro told reporters on the sidelines of a forum commemorating Maritime Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month. “We have to get the concurrence of several agencies and right now, all the concurrence has been gathered. The Office of the President will submit it to the Senate,” he said.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Putin hosts summit to show West it can't keep Russia off global stage GLOBALNATION China says it reached 'resolution' with India on contested border issues GLOBALNATION P100,000 reward up for info on missing US vlogger in ZamboangaREAD: PH, Japan ink defense pact amid China aggression
During the signing of the agreement in July, Teodoro said the RAA “will put flesh into our already strong, robust bilateral relations” and also lead to “greater interoperability, exchanges of information and other cooperative activities both bilaterally and multilaterally under the aegis of a rules-based international order.”
Article continues after this advertisementThe RAA will take effect once ratified by the Philippine Senate and Japanese Parliament.
Article continues after this advertisementNegotiations for the RAA between Manila and Tokyo took only a record seven months, while the Philippines formalized a similar visiting forces of agreement with the United States after two years and another with Australia around a year after it was proposed.
Article continues after this advertisementLast week, Senate President Sen. Francis Escudero said they have yet to receive a copy of the deal, pointing out that it should be submitted by October so it can be ratified this year, otherwise it will have to wait for next year.
“Hopefully, we will be able to do it within the year if they give it to us before the end of October. If they give it to us any time after that, we will be busy with deliberating on the 2025 national budget and it might already be next year by the time we come around to ratify again. It will depend on when they will submit it to us for ratification,” he said.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter