NextGen Day

The meeting between senior defense officials from the Philippines and the United States demonstrates the close bilateral defense ties between the two countries.

The Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. said in a statement on Friday that the meeting “highlighted the importance of the bilateral defense relations between the Philippines and the US, and we were able to discuss forward-looking, practical, and tangible ways on how to empower our partnership through improving defense cooperation across various lines of efforts.”

In addition, he stated that they addressed “improving interoperability” between the two armed services at their Thursday (US time) meeting at the US Indo-Pacific Command in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The sharing of intelligence between the two militaries is also included, according to Faustino, “with the end goal of further boosting the credibility of our partnership.”

“Over more than 70 years, the US and the Philippines have been friends, partners, and allies. Our political, economic, and sociocultural relations have improved during that time, and our ties—including those between our defense establishments—have gotten stronger, “Added he.

Faustino added that the US-Philippines defense and security cooperation continues to be a crucial tenet of the two countries bilateral relations.

“We also value the US administration’s readiness to cooperate with the Philippine government as a partner on an equal and sovereign basis. Our two nations are collaborating to come to a shared understanding of the value of our defense partnership and what it means to regard one another as equal partners in furthering our respective nations’ interests and fostering peace and prosperity in the area, “added he.

The meeting between Faustino and Austin takes place at the end of the year-long planning process for bilateral defense cooperation between the US and the Philippines.

“The bilateral meeting we held this afternoon was a welcome opportunity to discuss the way forward for the Philippines-US alliance, based on the current priorities of our respective administrations,” the DND chief emphasized. “This was discussed during the recent meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and US President Joseph R. Biden in New York.”

Following their phone conversation on September 1st, this meeting is the pair’s first in-person interaction.

The Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the US and the Philippines was renewed by officials, who also talked about ways to fortify the defense partnership.

Faustino emphasized the importance of the MDT to the Philippines’ national defense strategy. He noted that the alliance’s response to contemporary security concerns was a topic of agreement on both sides.

The two sides also discussed ways to cooperate in the maritime sector, increase interoperability through actions to improve capacity and capability and modernize and reinforce the alliance through information sharing. They also addressed recent security developments in the region.

Through the effective implementation of annual bilateral exercises, Austin emphasized the willingness of both parties to cooperate.

He expressed optimism that the two nations could accomplish more together by making bilateral cooperation activities more complex.

Both parties recognize the value of implementing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) to maintain, grow, and respond to individual and collective defense capabilities.

Through their discussions of future-looking, doable, and concrete measures to further boost the alliance’s credibility, the two officials emphasized the significance of bilateral defense relations between the Philippines and the US.

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