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Ph, Germany agree to broaden defense agreement
By Nidz Godino
“We collaborate because we have shared vision of respect for United Nations Charter… and our desire to see stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told joint news conference with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Philippine capital Philippines and Germany have agreed to deepen military cooperation.
Manila pushes back after a series of confrontations with China.
Pistorius and Teodoro met in Manila and pledged to sign defense cooperation agreement by the end of the year.
Teodoro said agreement would focus on “mutual understanding regarding capabilities, training and exchange of information”.
There have been escalating confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in disputed South China Sea, Beijing claims almost entirely despite international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
They vowed to build “long-lasting relations” between their armed forces and flagged possibility of Germany supplying military equipment to the Philippines.
Manila has been seeking to boost defence ties in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond in the face of China’s increasing confidence in asserting its claims over the South China Sea.
Pistorius is the first German defense minister to visit Philippines.
Germany is one of Philippines’ oldest formal defense partners through 1974 administrative agreement includes training of Filipino troops in Germany.
Pistorius said security and stability between their respective regions were interconnected and hoped agreement would be signed “before end of the year, maybe already in October”.
“Ministers strongly opposed any unilateral attempt to advance expansive claims, especially through force or coercion,” Pistorius and Teodoro said in joint statement.
Pistorius told reporters that Germany’s engagements in the region “are not directed against anybody”.
He is expected to meet Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, the last day of his three-day visit.
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