Philippines hopeful of joint exercise with Japanese troops next year

Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro expressed hope on Tuesday that a joint exercise by Philippine and Japanese troops under a new bilateral security pact "could be" held as early as next year.In an interview with Kyodo News, Teodoro said he believes talks for the proposed Reciprocal Access Agreement will go "very smoothly" and be signed "the soonest possible time."Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed over the weekend at their meeting in Manila that they will begin negotiations on the RAA."I do not think there will be any obsta…READ FULL ARTICLE