The Japanese Communications Agency and the Philippine Communications Agency on the 26th that Japanese Prime Minister Gao Minghua met with Philippine President Marcos during his trip to Malaysia on the same day. Gao Minghua said that the Philippines and Japan have "in principle" reached a consensus on the Agreement on Mutual Provision of Material Labor (ACSA), which will allow the armed forces of the two countries to carry out mutual logistical support.

The leaders' talks between Japan and the Philippines were held during the 47th ASEAN Summit and related meetings. Sanae Takaichi called Marcos the first foreign leader she met face-to-face since she became prime minister, and expressed hope to enhance relations with the Philippines, Japan's strategic partner. Marcos invited sanae takaichi to visit the Philippines, and said that he wanted to take the opportunity of the 70th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year to strengthen bilateral relations. Marcos also said: "We welcome the principled consensus reached in the Agreement on Mutual Provision of Materials and Services, which will play an important role in strengthening security cooperation between the two countries."

According to the agreement, the armed forces of the two countries can provide each other with logistical support during joint exercises, training, peacekeeping missions or humanitarian operations, covering areas such as fuel, food, transportation, medical services and components.

In September this year, the reciprocal access agreement (RAA) signed by Japan in 2024 came into effect and was soon used for the joint exercise in Fiji in October, according to the Philippine news agency, the principle consensus on the ACSA agreement is being advanced in this context. The report, citing a previous introduction by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, said that the ACSA agreement will provide a variety of assistance, including meeting the first's fuel supply needs when joint exercises are conducted by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Philippine Navy.

¡°The achievement of the ACSA principle agreement on security cooperation in Japan and the Philippines marks that the defense and security cooperation between the two sides is moving towards a substantial integration and becomes a true ¡®partisan alliance¡¯ relationship.¡± said Hui Hui, a specialist researcher at the China Institute for International Affairs and Research in Asia-Pacific, in an interview with the Global Times.

Philippine media mentioned that Takashi Saami's office also stated that the leaders of the two countries agreed to continue to coordinate closely to respond to various international challenges, including the situation in the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, and Myanmar.

He said the focus of Japanese cooperation could be on increasing the frequency, scale and complexity of joint military exercises, ¡°particularly strengthening maritime security exercises in the South China Sea and nearby waters to test the effectiveness of ACSA in logistical support.¡±

Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported that Takashi Saami also expressed intention to strengthen cooperation between Japan, the United States and the Philippines, and said that "any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo through force or coercion must not be tolerated." Ge Hongliang, deputy dean of the ASEAN School of Guangxi University for Nationalities, told the Global Times reporter: "The United States has been deliberately elevating and strengthening Japan's role and weight in the regional security system in recent years. Japan has shown strong interest in taking on such roles in Southeast Asia and other regions."