The Marcos regime’s allowing the presence of Japanese soldiers in the war games Salaknib and Balikatan is an outright betrayal of the country’s history and sovereignty. Their participation in war maneuvers at the “invitation” of the puppet state is a slap in the face of the millions of Filipinos who were killed, tortured, oppressed, and exploited under the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945.

Until now, the Japanese state has made no genuine admission nor paid reparations for the crimes of its soldiers in the rapes and sexual enslavement of hundreds of Filipino women during that period.

“Ferdinand Marcos Jr, a puppet, is going all out to cleanse the image of Japanese forces to erase from the collective memory of Filipinos one of the darkest periods of our history,” Communist Party of the Philippines chief information officer Marco Valbuena said.

This year marks the first time Japanese forces with their own military equipment will directly participate in Salaknib and Balikatan. This is a maneuver of the Japanese government to circumvent constitutional provisions regarding its exclusively “defense-oriented” armed forces. As such, it should not participate in offensive actions like Salaknib and Balikatan that directly challenge China’s power.

In Japan itself, Sanae Takaichi’s government faces intense condemnation from the Japanese people. This came after her cabinet revised the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology on April 21. This policy prohibits Japan from exporting heavy weapons, including jet fighters, missiles, warships, and other combat equipment. The major revision allows Japan to sell such weapons to countries with which it has a “transfer agreement.” It currently has such agreements with 17 countries, including the Philippines.

The restrictions on Japan’s military power are being steadily dismantled. This is the Japanese state’s repudiation of the pacifist policies embedded in its constitution after its brutal crimes in the Second World War.

It now uses China’s rise to justify strengthening its military to once again wage war against neighboring countries in Asia, including the Philippines.