Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said Wednesday that negotiations between the Philippines and Japan on the reciprocal access agreement (RAA) are “going well”.

“I’m optimistic. In fact, I've been briefed on this and I think the movement has been going well. Of course, there are still some other issues which have to be tackled. I think the next round of discussions will look into those,” Manalo said at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP forum) held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila City.

The RAA, a proposed military deal between Japan and the Philippines, will provide the guidelines for when the defense forces of both countries will visit each other for training and hold joint exercises.

Manalo also raised the possibility of the country having a possible visiting forces agreement (VFA) with France.

“I think the VFA with France has been talked about but there are no details yet. It’s a possibility but there hasn’t been any specific draft proposal anything forward yet,” Manalo said.

“I think our two defense ministers have already discussed this. So yes, it’s a possibility but there is nothing formal yet.

The Philippines only has VFAs with the United States.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. previously said that the RAA with Japan is expected to boost the country’s capacity in terms of security and disaster preparedness, which will be important in maintaining peace in the South China Sea.

The Department of National Defense (DND) said in December last year that it is waiting for a counter draft from Japan, following the formal negotiations it had in November.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. earlier said in an interview that once the draft of the RAA was done it would be submitted to the Diet and the Philippine Senate for ratification.

In a separate interview, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said lawmakers plan to ratify the RAA with Japan in the first half of this year. Jaspearl Tan/DMS