The Philippines’ new foreign minister has said she sees no problem if Japan were to amend its pacifist Constitution to clarify the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces, acknowledging that it would even contribute to the two countries’ robust defense cooperation.
Speaking to Kyodo News on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said that revising Article 9 of Japan’s supreme law, which renounces war and bans Japan from possessing a military, to define the SDF “will augur well” for its relations with the Philippines and suit the current security issues.
“We see no emotional hang-up on such a situation. It’s a different world now. We are interconnected,” Lazaro said when asked how the issue is viewed by the Philippines with its harrowing experience under the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has long sought to mention the SDF in the Constitution to counter claims the forces are unconstitutional. The supreme law was drafted under the U.S.-led Allied occupation of Japan after the war and took effect in 1947.
“Japan and South Korea are important neighbors who must work together as partners to tackle various global challenges,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference.
