PH-Japan naval drills constitutional, says AFP

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Thursday defended criticisms that the ongoing naval drills between Philippines and Japan in the West Philippine Sea off Palawan is unconstitutional and a violation of Philippine sovereignty.

“The training was properly coordinated with the General Headquarters, Department of National Defense and covered by our existing Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation and Exchanges signed in January this year,” said AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Joselito Kakilala.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio previously slammed the drills, saying it lacked a treaty with Japan ratified by the Senate.

He said the memorandum signed by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and his Japanese counterpart in January did not fulfill the constitutional requirement of a Senate-ratified treaty.

Tinio added that the presence of foreign military forces in the Philippine territory is prohibited unless authorized by a treaty ratified by the Senate.

He also cited the use of surveillance plane P3-C Orion and its flight over the Recto Bank (Reed Bank) in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

But Kakilala said the ongoing activity is only for “training” purposes.

“The activity of the Philippine Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force is a maritime activity.This is a customary navy-to-navy event that we accord to every visiting navy….With respect to the JMSDF, the Philippine Navy took advantage of its visit as an opportunity to learn best practices and Techniques, Tactics and Procedures from them in humanitarian assistance and disaster response and search and rescue,”  he said.

The use of Japan’s surveillance plane is covered with proper diplomatic clearance, Kakilala added.

The Philippines and Japan had agreed to holding talks on a visiting forces agreement during President Benigno Aquino III’s visit to Tokyo early this month.

The proposed VFA, however, may take several years to complete, Gazmin said in a public forum on Thursday. AU