Japan may join Balikatan – Marcos

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said he was considering including Japan in the Philippines’ “Balikatan” military exercises with the United States.

Marcos said the possibility of the Japanese military joining the joint annual drills of Filipino and American troops would be “a good move” toward better defense coordination between the two countries.

“Now, with the inclusion of Japan into some of these exercises that we have been doing — not only Balikatan but others — I do not see any reason why Japan should not be part of those exercises in the future,” Marcos said during the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines’ presidential forum at the Manila Hotel.

“We will look again how the trilateral agreement has allowed more options to include Japan, and we will see. I, for one, have no objection to such an idea,” he said.

The President was referring to his landmark meeting in Washington with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where their discussions included ramping up defense and maritime cooperation.

Prior to the Washington summit, Japan participated in the recent four-nation maritime drills in the South China Sea along with the Philippines, the US and Australia.

This year’s Balikatan will run from April 22 to May 8.