Defense Undersecretary for Strategic Assessment and Planning Ignacio Madriaga led the Philippine delegation to the 13th Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice Ministerial Forum (DVMF) held on January 30 in Tokyo, which launched Japan's new defensive initiative with the region.

The DVMF is a Japan-led cooperative platform that facilitated discussions on Indo-Pacific security and prospects for defense cooperation between Japan and ASEAN Member States. This year’s meeting was chaired by Japanese Vice Minister for International Affairs Kiyoshi Serizawa and attended by senior defense officials from the ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat, and Timor-Leste.

The new defense initiative with ASEAN was called Japan-ASEAN Ministerial Initiative for Enhanced Defense Cooperation (Jasmine). Building on the success of the Vientiane Vision 2.0, Japan’s defense cooperation framework with ASEAN, Jasmine expands Japan’s capacity-building support for ASEAN with the aim to usher new possibilities to contribute to regional peace, stability, and prosperity.

Madriaga welcomed Jasmine as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation against persisting and emerging security challenges, including the non-traditional domains of cyber and space, and to enhance collaboration in the integration of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda across all realms of peace and security.

He likewise commended Japan for its continued commitment to ASEAN centrality, underscoring its active participation in ASEAN-led mechanisms such as the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, which the Philippines and Japan are co-chairing the Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security for the 2024-2027 cycle.

Madriaga also met with his counterparts from Singapore and Vietnam to discuss the way forward of defense cooperation in bilateral and multilateral levels.

Joining the Philippine delegation were Minister and Consul Evangeline Ong-Jimenez Ducrocq, head of the Political Section of the Philippine Embassy in Japan, and Colonel Randy Espino Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attache to Japan. Department of National Defense