“Increased defense cooperation between the Philippines and Japan comes on the heels of closer economic cooperation between them.” Filipinos who were born or who grew up in the years before the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941 and occupation until 1945 would no doubt be filled with dread today if they saw Japanese ‘Zero’ fighter planes above our skies, rekindling fears of impending death and destruction in their midst. But these days, if there are still ‘Zero’ planes still intact, these would no doubt only be in war museums in Japan, as mementoes of that country’s plan to establish…