US-Phl-Japan trilateral security cooperation essential

During the state visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the Philippines last November where he delivered a speech before a joint session of Congress, he highlighted the trilateral cooperation between the United States, the Philippines and Japan to protect the freedom of the South China Sea.

“In order to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law, multi-layered cooperation among allies and like-minded countries is crucial,” Prime Minister Kishida underscored, outlining efforts to “protect the maritime order, which is governed by laws and rules, not by force.”

In the most recent briefing paper issued by a good friend of mine and our embassy, director of the Southeast Asia Program and the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Greg Poling with research associate Japhet Quitzon titled “Sustaining the US-Philippines-Japan Triad,” China’s “aggression in the South China Sea and increasingly aggressive posture toward Taiwan” was highlighted as it continues to “pose a threat to the rulesbased order in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The brief delved on how the triad can better coordinate on a range of issues that include “Beijing’s illegal behavior in the East and South China Seas and possible Taiwan contingencies.”

Exhorting the US, Japan and the Philippines to “urgently strengthen their partnerships with each other, reinforce the importance of cooperation and assess the role their alliances can play in ensuring regional security,” the brief provided a keen and clear-sighted assessment of the shared challenges, areas of cooperation as well as vulnerabilities that have to be addressed not only in terms of defense and security but economic as well.

“In the face of shared challenges, Japan has become an important security partner to the Philippines,” the document noted, giving attention to a “reciprocal access agreement” (RAA) between Japan and the Philippines which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had described as “extremely significant,” saying it will bring “greater capacity to maintain peace in the South China Sea” and will also provide “greater capability in terms not only of security, but also in terms of disaster preparedness.”

According to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Japan and the Philippines are fast-tracking the RAA (which is similar to the Visiting forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States) that will lay the groundwork for bigger military exercises between Japanese and Philippine troops and would also allow Japanese military personnel access to the Philippines for training and support.

“Crucially, the three partners should also have economic plans in place, including supportive measures to help sustain the triad’s economies, especially the Philippines’ shock-sensitive economy,” the brief said, noting that as an archipelagic state, “the Philippines is exceedingly vulnerable to external shocks – any disruptions in the country’s energy and supply chains would not only complicate everyday function within the country but impact the ability of both the Philippines and the United States to conduct security operations from the country.”

Considering the vulnerability of the Philippines to energy and supply chain shocks, Greg says the US and its allies should ensure that the Philippine economy remains robust. The US should deepen its economic relationship with the Philippines and “do more to encourage US investors to take a serious look at the increasingly open Philippine economy, including by lifting travel advisories to Davao and other safe areas of Mindanao, and encourage the development of local manufacturers and industries, supporting the Philippines’ domestic ability to pursue its national security aims,” the recommendation went.

Our economic team at the Philippine embassy in Washington, DC has been actively engaging with key US officials and various business groups to explore areas of economic cooperation and bring focus to key sectors such as agriculture and clean energy, among many others. In Washington, we regularly interact with the Japanese ambassador.

Aside from aiding the Philippines in exploring more reliable energy options, the US and Japan are providing support to the Philippines in modernizing our armed forces.

“Though military aid is crucial, the United States and Japan should also assist the Philippines in growing homegrown defense industries, aiming to provide jobs and increase the country’s capacity for homegrown selfdefense. The Philippines currently has very few domestic defense manufacturers,” the briefing paper underscored.

Another key finding highlighted in the brief are disinformation and misinformation operations that are proving to be among the greatest challenges facing allied cooperation in the region. Particularly worrying are the “disinformation and pro-China narratives circulating on Philippine airwaves and cyberspace” that “exacerbate the issue and threaten to disrupt a national effort to prepare the country against a contingency in the South China Sea. These information operations promoting pro-China content are rampant throughout cyberspace, downplaying aggressive Chinese behavior and placing the blame instead on the United States or even the Philippine Coast Guard.”

To counter such disinformation, the triad should create “a unified front through harmonized messaging and coordinated anti-disinformation campaigns,” the paper pointed out, as this “limits China’s ability to wedge the triad apart. Countering Chinese disinformation in all three countries with credible, accessible and fact-based reporting will help delegitimize Chinese narratives aimed at dividing public opinion.”

Like others in our government, I have been occasionally targeted by a smear campaign through fake memos, spurious emails and absurd messages from bogus senders, obviously in an attempt to picture me as a US paid hand.

I have only one message to these agents of disinformation: The relationship between the US and the Philippines has never been better, and I will vigorously continue working to help ensure that our alliance remains solid, strong and stable.