A top Philippine general has said he expects the Self-Defense Forces¡¯ involvement in both bilateral and multilateral activities to grow substantially, following the SDF¡¯s limited participation in large-scale military activities that wrapped up last week.

Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, said in an exclusive interview with The Japan Times that he expects ties to surge even further once the Japanese parliament ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.

¡°As soon as we have the implementing arrangements of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), we will involve the Japanese in the concept development for upcoming exercises as early as next month,¡± Logico said.