PINAG-AARALAN umano ang pagpasok sa isang Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) o katulad na kasunduan ng Pilipinas at Japan.

Ayon kay Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez ang pag-uusap para sa naturang kasunduan ay “working in progress.”

“I think that’s ongoing. That’s ongoing…that’s what they call ‘a work in progress’. So there’s always conversations along those lines. And lines of communications are very, very wide open especially after the visit,” sabi ni Romualdez na bahagi ng official delegation ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa limang araw na working trip sa Japan.

Sinabi in Romualdez na ang kasunduan ay karugtong ng naging pag-uusap ni Pangulong Marcos at Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio sa United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sa New York noong nakaraang taon.

“This is an offshoot of their first meeting, which I was present in New York. After the [UNGA] opening, we had lunch with the newly-minted, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in New York, and the phrase that or the words that they used was that economic security. So you can figure out this with those two words,” ani Speaker Romualdez.

Nang tanungin kung sa palagay nito ay magreresulta ang pag-uusap sa pagkakaroon ng VFA sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Japan, sagot ni Romualdez, “I think that’s the general direction. We’re all in the same region and we’re all actually experiencing the same issues and concerns and the President always says he knows…he always works multilaterally but that’s not without exception to having bilateral agreements, for instance, Philippines and Japan that would somehow effect like a trilateral agreement.”

Ipinunto naman ni Speaker Romualdez na hindi na bago ang pagpasok sa ganitong kasunduan.

“There’s a general understanding that that’s the direction but it was always, you know, founded and on fact that to usher in an environment of peace and stability. But that’s what it’s all about, and I guess it’s the creation of balance,” dagdag pa ni Speaker Romualdez.

Iginiit ni Romualdez na layunin ang mga ganitong kasunduan ang pagkakaroon ng katatagan sa rehiyon na magreresulta sa pag-unlad ng mga bansa.

Nang tanungin kaugnay ng posibleng maging reaksyon ng China sa planong kasunduan sa Japan. sinabi ni Speaker Romualdez na nananatili ang polisiya ng Pangulo ay pagpapanatili ng kapayapaan.

“The President has made his foreign policy very clear. He is a friend of all and the enemy to none, so he doesn’t want…The President feels that peace is the most important ingredient in any foreign policy declaration,” dagdag pa ni Romualdez.

“Now, what we’re doing is this.. It’s also the capacity-building for the part of the Philippines. In fact, we are in the winning side of all of these types of arrangements or agreements because as you know, we still are a bit challenged when it comes to our defense capabilities and whatnot. So we definitely would be the most benefited one,” sabi pa ni Speaker Romualdez.