Why Manila and Tokyo are getting closer in 2026

MANILA — Philippine and Japanese officials, along with policy experts, said Tuesday that deeper cooperation between Manila and Tokyo is no longer optional as both countries confront rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East.

Speaking at a high-level conference organized by Stratbase Institute and the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, Stratbase President and CEO Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit said the current geopolitical climate demanded stronger and more decisive partnerships, especially between trusted countries.

He said those ties now carry greater strategic importance in strengthening supply chains and reducing vulnerabilities in an increasingly uncertain global environment.

“In a region where the stakes continue to rise, the Philippines and Japan have both the opportunity and the responsibility to work together—to strengthen economic resilience, enhance security cooperation, and uphold the principles that keep our region stable and open,” Manhit said in his opening remarks.

“This is not a normal moment,” he added. “The rules that have long kept our region stable are being tested, tensions are rising, and supply chains remain vulnerable.”

Manhit said both countries must move beyond tradition and deliver concrete outcomes, particularly in economic resilience and security cooperation.

Diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Manila were normalized on July 23, 1956, following post-World War II reconciliation under former President Elpidio Quirino, and both governments have designated 2026 as the Japan-Philippines Friendship Year to mark the 70th anniversary of that milestone. (Embassy of Japan in the Philippines)

Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya described the relationship as entering a “golden age” as cooperation is “deepening and extending steadily across all fields.”

He added that bilateral ties could serve as a model for other nations because “benevolence and long-term perspective have paved the way for genuine reconciliation and seven decades of friendship.”

“As maritime nations located along significant sea lanes in a close neighborhood, both allied with the United States, and facing similar challenges against maritime order, our security cooperation is a natural necessity,” he said.

Endo also said Japan remains the Philippines’ top source of official development assistance, a point reflected in JICA’s summary of the Philippine government’s 2024 ODA Portfolio Review, which showed Japan accounting for USD 13.23 billion, or about one-third of the country’s total ODA portfolio. (JICA)

The partnership has also expanded into defense cooperation, including the signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement in 2024, which facilitates joint training and troop deployments. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the agreement entered into force on Sept. 11, 2025. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan)

Endo said trilateral cooperation among the Philippines, Japan, and the United States, and quadrilateral cooperation among the Philippines, Japan, the United States, and Australia “are both growing,” adding that he anticipated “strengthened participation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in upcoming Balikatan exercises held in the Philippines.”

He added that he was seeing “new possibilities emerging in Japan–Philippines relations,” including “promising horizons for cooperation in fields such as space, green transformation (GX), digital transformation (DX), and artificial intelligence (AI).”

Finance Secretary Frederick Go, in his keynote speech, said the Philippine government “remains fully committed to further strengthening our strategic partnership with Japan.”

He said the relationship had evolved from a purely economic partnership into one between “like-minded nations working together to advance stability, resilience, and opportunity in our region.”

Former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Philippine-Japan ties are also crucial to maintaining a rules-based order in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

“What will happen five to 10 years from now in the South China Sea depends on what we do today. Our objective is to ensure that the rule-space order applies to the South China Sea,” Carpio said. “That would mean the UNCLOS would apply to the South China Sea. Our objective should be to strengthen the arbitral award so the world can rally behind it.”

The arbitral award Carpio referred to was issued on July 12, 2016, by a tribunal constituted under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Philippines’ case against China. China has continued to reject the ruling.