Philippine, Japan ministers agree to further enhance defense partnership

Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, rght, and Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani leave following a joint press briefing held after their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Manila on Feb. 24, 2025.

Japan and the Philippines agreed on Monday to further deepen defense ties in the face of an "increasingly severe" security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, Japanese defense minister Gen Nakatani said on Monday.