Both countries are longtime allies of the United States, which has been strengthening an arc of alliances to deter China's disputed territorial claims in the Pacific.
The pact -- which also allows for increased joint combat drills -- was ratified by the Philippine senate with no negative votes or abstentions, Senate President Francis Escudero said.
Lawmakers in Tokyo will also need to vote through the treaty before it takes effect, Japan's embassy said.
"Ratifying the Agreement further affirms the strategic partnership between the two countries and their mutual goal to enhance contribution to regional and international peace, security and stability," the senate said in a statement.
"The Agreement will expand the defense cooperation of the Philippines and Japan in the maritime domain amid shared security challenges."
Negotiators from both countries finished brokering the pact in July, after seven months of talks.
Whilst Japan invaded the Philippines during World War II, nowadays they have common military ties to the United States and are increasingly at loggerheads with China.
Japan hosts around 54,000 American troops but clashes with China over the ownership of islands, controlled by Tokyo, in the East China Sea.
Filipino and Chinese vessels regularly clash around a disputed shoal Beijing seized from Manila in 2012.
Between Japan and the Philippines, Taiwan has increasingly become a flashpoint. Beijing claims the self-ruled island in full and has not ruled out using force to back its rhetoric.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in trade passes annually, and has brushed off an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
US warship docks in Cambodia amid China naval base concerns
Sihanoukville, Cambodia (AFP) Dec 16, 2024 -
A US warship docked in Cambodia on Monday, just kilometres away from a Chinese-renovated naval base, in the first American military port call to one of Beijing's closest regional allies in eight years.
Washington's relationship with Phnom Penh has been deteriorating for years, with China pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure investment under Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen.
AFP reporters saw Cambodian navy personnel welcoming the USS Savannah's arrival to the southern port city of Sihanoukville on Monday.
The ship's commanding officer Daniel A. Sledz said "it is great to be back, returning US presence here after eight years", adding that his crew were "very pleased" to be hosted by Cambodia.
The US embassy posted a statement on social media on Monday saying the combat ship is on a "goodwill visit" that aims to "boost US-Cambodia coordination and response to shared maritime security challenges".
Cambodia's defence ministry said on Friday that the five-day visit aims to "strengthen and expand friendship" and "promote bilateral cooperation".
Since 2022, China has been funding the renovation of the Ream naval base, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Sihanoukville, which was originally built partly using US funds.
Washington has said the Ream base could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety.
Cambodian leaders have repeatedly denied that the base is for use by any foreign power.
Chinese warships first docked at the 363-metre (1,190-foot) pier in December last year. Two berthed at Sihanoukville port in May as part of Beijing's biggest joint military drills with Cambodia.
The Chinese military unveiled machine gun-equipped "robodogs" this year at the annual joint exercises, known as the "Golden Dragon" drills.
In early 2017, Cambodia scrapped similar joint exercises with US forces that had been held for the previous seven years.
Cambodia's defence ministry said 27 US navy vessels have visited the nation since 2007, although the USS Savannah's visit with 103 crew members was the first docking in eight years.
The ship's senior officers will meet with the Ream base's commander.
On Monday, Beijing responded to the US warship's visit to Sihanoukville saying "such exchanges and collaborations in security and defence should contribute to promoting regional peace and stability, rather than the opposite."
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Cambodia in June to reset ties with the staunch China ally.
Cambodia's foreign minister Prak Sokhonn and the US embassy's Bridgette Walker last week hailed the "reinvigoration" of military ties between the two countries.
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