1,000 Japanese troops to take part in ‘Balikatan’–AFP
Around 1,000 Japanese military personnel will be participating in this year’s iteration of the “Balikatan” exercises with the United States, Filipino and other allied troops from April to May, a ranking Armed Forces of the Philippines official said on Friday.
AFP deputy chief of staff for plans, Maj. Gen. Rommel Cordova, in a Stratbase Institute forum, said this year’s Balikatan will be one of the largest in the history of the exercises.
“And a number of countries, Japan, for example, is going to send more than 1,000 troops in the exercise with Australia, I think Canada, New Zealand and I think France. And another 18 countries are going to participate in our Balikatan International Observers Program,” he said.
In the 2025 iteration of the exercise, around 14,000 Filipino, American, Australian and Japanese troops, in an observer role, took part in the drills from April 21 to May 9.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan entered into force on Sept. 11, 2025, allowing greater military cooperation between the two nations by streamlining procedures for the deployment of forces in each other’s territories for joint training and disaster response operations.
Ratified agreements
The RAA was signed in Manila on July 8, 2024, ratified by President Marcos on Nov. 5, 2024, and by the Philippine Senate on Dec. 16, 2024. The Japanese Diet approved the RAA on June 6, 2025.
Cordova said the Philippines and other like-minded countries have so far conducted a total of 35 bilateral and multilateral maritime cooperative activities since these exercises started in November 2023.
“For example, since we started the MCAs (maritime cooperative activities) in the last quarter of 2023, we have now conducted a total of 35 bilateral and multilateral MCAs with various partner countries. And this is going to increase in the near future,” he added.
