The President of the Philippines will visit Japan as a state guest

On April 24, the Japanese government announced that on May 26 to 29, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his wife will visit Japan as state guests.

During their stay, the Emperor and Empress will meet with President Marcos and his wife, and a palace banquet is planned. Additionally, Prime Minister Sanae Takeda will hold a summit meeting with President Marcos. This visit is expected to further strengthen the friendly relations between Japan and the Philippines.

In a press conference held in Japan on the morning of the 24th, Chief Cabinet Secretary Toshio Kinbara announced that Philippine President Marcos will visit Japan from May 26 to 29 as a state guest. Meetings with the Emperor and Empress, a palace banquet, and a summit meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takeda are scheduled.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Philippines. Kinbara stated: "We look forward to further deepening the close relationship already established between the two countries across a broad range of fields."

Given Japan's preliminary approval for exporting weapons with lethal capabilities, the Philippines has shown interest in Japanese defense equipment such as patrol vessels, which is expected to become one of the topics discussed during the talks.

Moreover, the Philippines is serving as the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, and Prime Minister Takeda hopes to use this opportunity to demonstrate her commitment to diplomacy in Southeast Asia.

At the summit meeting, both sides will also focus on China’s activities in maritime areas and reaffirm cooperation to advance the vision of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific." Since taking office, President Marcos has visited Japan twice in 2023 and once in 2025.

On June 1, 2025, then-Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani held a defense ministerial meeting with Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro during his visit to Singapore for the 22nd Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue). The two sides agreed that based on the summit talks held in April and fully utilizing the "Strategic Utilization Cooperation High-level Framework" established in February 2025, they would further deepen Japan-Philippines defense cooperation through concrete measures in the future.

Additionally, both sides agreed to promote defense equipment and technology cooperation. It was confirmed during the talks that Japan plans to export used patrol vessels to the Philippines. The ships to be exported are six "Abukuma-class" patrol vessels from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. These vessels have been in service for over 30 years. Due to personnel shortages within the Self-Defense Forces, Japan is transitioning toward more automated, advanced new vessels, meaning these older ships will gradually be retired.

The "Abukuma-class" patrol vessels have strong combat capabilities. Under Japan’s “Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment,” they were previously classified as high-lethality weapons restricted from export. At that time, Japan only allowed exports of equipment for rescue, transport, surveillance, reconnaissance, and mine clearance—excluding high-capability combat vessels like patrol ships. However, if developed jointly—such as Japan’s ongoing joint development with the UK and Italy on next-generation fighter jets—high-capability equipment could be exported. Now, direct export may be possible.

Source: rfi

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863370451672071/

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