Lessons for PH-Japan pact

Now that the Philippines and Japan have signed a landmark Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) allowing the entry of soldiers and military equipment into each other’s territories for combat training and disaster response, all eyes will be on the legislature of both countries that will scrutinize and ratify the agreement before it enters into force.

In the case of the Philippines, the mandate to concur with the defense agreement belongs to the Senate whose leaders have thus far assured its approval.

“Anything that strengthens and increases our military’s capability is a deterrence to a possible conflagration. I fully support this agreement,” said Senate President Francis Escudero on Monday when the RAA was signed by leaders of both countries in Malacañang.

Any alliance that “strengthens our country’s close security relationship with a regional partner is an encouraging and welcome development,” agreed Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.

At the same time, countered Sen. Imee Marcos, the Senate foreign relations committee which she chairs, “will scrutinize every line and every word of that treaty once [it] is referred to us to make sure that it is aligned with the national interest of the country.”

Bitter lessons

There is no doubt that the agreement will eventually be ratified, with officials expecting it to fortify the Philippines’ defense of its territorial waters amid China’s aggressive and increasingly violent incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

It is, however, incumbent upon the Senate to draw from the bitter lessons of a similar deal—the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States—to ensure that no loopholes and gray areas in the RAA would result in incidents inimical to Philippine sovereignty and the interest of our citizens.

They should be reminded of the cases of transgender woman Jennifer Laude who was killed by US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton in a motel in Olongapo City in 2014, and the rape of a Filipino woman by US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith in 2005 in Subic. In both cases, the US maintained custody of the accused US marines during their trial, leading to protracted debates about the VFA being one-sided in favor of the US.

That thorny issue seems to have been addressed in the RAA, with provisions specifying that offenses committed by visiting forces will be punishable by laws in the receiving state. Article XXI on “Command and Control and Criminal and Disciplinary Jurisdiction” provides that the receiving state shall exercise criminal jurisdiction over visiting forces, including their civilian component.

‘Landmark achievement’

But there are exceptions, such as when offenses against the security of the sending state are not punishable under the laws of the receiving state, or when these offenses are solely against the property or security of the sending state, among others.

The duration of deployment of troops on each country’s soil, and the supervision of their activities, will also be crucial issues that must be clearly defined.

As the Philippines has learned from its VFA experience, there could be room to wiggle out of the language of an agreement, so our senators must ensure that this won’t get in the way of a mutually beneficial pact.

It was not lost on many that more than 80 years after Japan occupied the Philippines during World War II and left lingering memories of death and the rape of Filipino comfort women, the two nations are now economic and defense allies in a volatile region.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa hailed the RAA as a “landmark achievement,” the first of its kind signed by Japan in Asia, while Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said this was “another milestone in our shared endeavor to ensure a rules-based international order.”

Strategic and credible force

While Japan has no claims in the South China Sea (SCS), it is fighting off Chinese claims over Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, and has supported the Philippines against China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

The defense pact with Japan boosts President Marcos’ move to strengthen ties with Western allies led by the US as a pushback against China’s expansive claims in the SCS, even as contrary voices warn this could further provoke China.

But China’s belligerence, emboldened by the defeatist stance of the Duterte administration, has left Mr. Marcos with no choice but to forge alliances with nations that respect international laws governing territorial rights such as the arbitral ruling won by the Philippines against China eight years ago.

With existing security agreements with the US, Australia, now with Japan, and another planned with France, the Philippines must seize the momentum to strengthen its own military and defense capabilities to better defend its sovereignty from powerful aggressors, and establish itself as a strategic and credible force in promoting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.