The United States and the Philippines have signed a new military cooperation agreement to increase intelligence-sharing between the two nations and pave the way for Manila to receive more sophisticated U.S. weapons systems.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement at a ceremony at the Camp Aguinaldo military base in Manila on Nov. 18.
The agreement allows the United States to share sensitive military information, including details necessary to operate sophisticated weapons, including missile systems.
“Not only will this allow the Philippines access to higher capabilities and big-ticket items from the United States, it will also open opportunities to pursue similar agreements with like-minded nations,” Philippine Defense Ministry spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said.
Past Philippine efforts to obtain sophisticated weapons from the U.S. military have been hampered by a lack of such an intelligence-sharing deal.
This shortcoming left Philippine forces scrambling in 2017 for ways to defeat affiliates of the ISIS terrorist group who’d gained a foothold in the southern city of Marawi.
With just weeks left in U.S. President Joe Biden’s presidency, the deal is a capstone moment for the administration’s efforts to expand regional partnerships.
The Biden administration has taken steps to expand U.S.–Philippine military cooperation through joint sea patrols and efforts to modernize Manila’s military capabilities.
The administration has also backed the Philippines in its recent confrontations with Chinese naval forces in the South China Sea.
Manila repeatedly raised the alarm this year as Chinese coast guard vessels attempted to block the Philippine military from delivering supplies to service members stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, a vessel the Philippine navy intentionally ran aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to reinforce the Philippine territorial claim over the disputed reef.
The U.S.–Philippine partnership could prove useful in checking China’s expansionist efforts in the South China Sea and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
Austin and Teodoro attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new center on Camp Aguinaldo, where the U.S. and Philippine militaries can coordinate future joint operations.
During the signing ceremony, Teodoro also presented Austin with the Philippine military’s Outstanding Achievement Medal, “in recognition of the U.S. Defense Chief’s substantial contributions to strengthening the Philippines–U.S. bilateral defense ties and promoting regional security in the Indo-Pacific since he assumed his post in 2021.”
Reacting to the new U.S.–Philippine military cooperation agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said any military agreement or security cooperation “must not be directed against or harm the interests of a third party, nor should it undermine regional peace or exacerbate regional tensions.”
“The only right choice for safeguarding national security and regional peace and stability is to uphold good neighborliness and friendship and maintain strategic independence,” the Chinese spokesperson said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.