Manila, June 15 -- Filipino military units and their counterparts from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) conducted the second bilateral maritime cooperative activity (MCA) within the West Philippine Sea (WPS) over the weekend, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Sunday.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, in a message to reporters, said the MCA signifies a major step in defense cooperation under the newly ratified Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan.

Saturday's MCA was held west of Zambales up to the west-northwest of Occidental Mindoro, within the country's exclusive economic zone. It started 7:52 a.m. and ended 3:02 p.m., Padilla said.

The AFP deployed the newly commissioned guided missile...