Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the office of the president is expected to submit the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan to the Senate of the Philippines within the month (October).

In an interview with reporters in Camp Aguinaldo on Monday, Teodoro explained that following the signing of the RAA last July, the government will have to get the concurrence of several agencies before it will be submitted to the Senate for ratification.

"We will be submitting it to them soon... I think we got the last concurrence. We expect the last concurrence within a week or next week," he said.

"Right now I think all the concurrence has been gathered so the Office of the President will be the one to submit it to the Senate," he added.

In an interview with the members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) last week, Senate President Francis Escudero expressed hope for the Senate to ratify the RAA within the year if it will be submitted to them before the end of October.

"As of this date, we have not received it. As soon as we get it, probably it is going to take us about a month to deliberate on it, and put it to a vote. So hopefully we will be able to do it within the year if they give it to us before the end of October," he said.

"If they give it to us any time after that, we will be busy with deliberating on the 2025 national budget. And in fact, it will already be next year by the time we ratify or come around to ratifying it. Again, it will depend on when they will actually submit it to us for ratification," he explained.

The RAA was signed by Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko in the presence of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ,Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Kihara in Malacanang on July 8, 2024. Robina Asido/DMS