Philippines hopes to seal troops pact with Japan soon

The Philippines hopes to ink a reciprocal troops access deal with Japan at "the soonest possible time," Manila's Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on Monday. The Philippines and Japan have agreed to start negotiationson a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) that would allow both countries to deploy their forces on each other's soil. "We look forward to this reciprocal access agreement between both our countries given the commitment of the Japanese government and the Philippine government to preserve the rules-based international order and international law," Teodoro told a press briefing.