The Philippines and Japan moved to accelerate defense cooperation as both countries discussed the possible transfer of Japanese defense assets to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. met with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi on May 31 on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, following a series of recent high-level engagements between Manila and Tokyo.
Koizumi welcomed the renewed meeting, which came weeks after his visit to the Philippines, and said Japan intends to further strengthen defense relations under the two countries’ Comprehensive and Strategic Partnership.
Teodoro reaffirmed Manila’s commitment to close coordination with Tokyo under their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Both defense chiefs welcomed the progress of working-level talks on defense equipment cooperation. The group, formed during their May 5 ministerial meeting, includes policy, operational, and equipment officials from both countries.
The talks follow the May 28 summit where Philippine and Japanese leaders agreed to speed up consultations on the possible transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft.
During the meeting, Teodoro and Koizumi reached broad consensus to continue discussions on the prompt transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers after their decommissioning, as well as one TC-90 aircraft within Japan’s fiscal year 2027.
They also agreed to continue detailed talks on Philippine Navy training, maintenance and sustainment, and proper management of the assets after their transfer.
The two sides also cited progress in broader defense cooperation, including Japan’s participation in Balikatan 41-26 under the Philippines-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement, the signing of the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement in January, and the start of negotiations on an agreement to protect classified military information.
Teodoro and Koizumi agreed to keep pushing for early and concrete results, including deeper cooperation in the information domain.
With the Philippines serving as ASEAN chair this year, both officials also recognized the need to strengthen defense cooperation between Japan and Southeast Asian countries.