A new defense agreement between Tokyo and Manila is boosting military cooperation between the two countries as they face rising Chinese aggression.
Japan and the Philippines conducted their first military drill in October 2025 as part of a key defense pact that came into effect in September.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), signed in July 2024, allows Tokyo and Manila to deploy forces on each other's soil.
Victor Andres "Dindo" Manhit, a geopolitical analyst in Manila, says the new pact elevates the allies' cooperation to a new level, including "not only at the air force level, army level, naval level, but even cyberspace."
"In those four domains, we are expecting a strong collaboration, and Japan will be able to help us as we try to modernize in our own little way," Manhit added.
The Japanese-Filipino defense pact was signed in July 2024 amid escalating tensions between
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