This article from the People’s Daily suggests that might be on its way: 

 

The Philippines is considering giving the United States and Japan greater access to Manila’s military bases, the country’s defense secretary said on Thursday. 

 

The article quotes an analysts who notes, and I don’t doubt this, that the US is wary of being “kidnapped” by the Philippines on this issue, especially given Manila’s handling of disputes. And it’s not as if US-Philippines relations around the military are all rosy.

Nonetheless, it’s another sign of the times as the ASEAN countries meet.

Japan’s possible involvement shows how remote these concerns about Japan’s imperial past are for South China Sea countries.