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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
April 23, 2025 | 12:18pm
A photo composite of Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
AP / Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines — Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is set to visit the Philippines from April 29 to 30.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Marcos will receive the Japanese leader at Malacañan Palace.
“The meeting of President Marcos and Prime Minister Ishiba will aim to deepen and improve economic and development cooperation, political and defense engagements, and people-to-people exchanges. Both leaders are also expected to exchange views on regional and global developments, and explore new pathways towards peace and stability under the ‘Strengthened Strategic Partnership’ between the two countries,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement.
The Japanese prime minister’s short stay in the Philippines is classified as an “official visit,” which has fewer ceremonies than a state visit. The expenses of the visit will be shouldered by the host country.
Shigeru and Marcos also met in 2024 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Laos.
The Philippines and Japan share a reciprocal access agreement (RAA), which was signed in July 2024.
The RAA allows the two countries to enhance military cooperation, enabling joint military exercises and humanitarian relief operations between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the RAA came “as the security environment in the region becomes increasingly severe.”
Both the Philippines and Japan have territorial disputes with China. Manila has borne the brunt of Beijing’s encroachment in the West Philippine Sea.
Tokyo and Beijing are also engaged in a territorial dispute over a set of islands in the East China Sea, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Senkaku Islands in Japan.
Apart from the current defense agreement, the Philippines and Japan also have a bilateral free trade agreement, the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA), which was signed in 2006 and became effective in 2008.
The PJEPA covers trade in goods and services, as well intellectual property and government procurement.
