MANILA – The Philippines and Indonesia renewed the agreement on cooperative activities in the defense and security field.
Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto on Monday signed the agreement in Jakarta.
“The agreement is one of the bilateral agreements signed on the sidelines of the State Visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Indonesia on 05 September 2022,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement Tuesday.
Indonesia is regarded as one of the Philippines’ closest defense partners in the Southeast Asian region.
“The said agreement is intended to reaffirm the commitment of both countries under the 1997 Defense Cooperation Agreement, and complement the 1975 Border Patrol and Crossing Agreements between the Philippines and Indonesia,” Andolong added.
He stated that the renewal of the agreement provides a framework for cooperation between the two defense establishments which intends to strengthen the two countries’ long-standing defense cooperation.
He added that such a framework would also allow the Philippines and Indonesia to collaborate in capacity-building to address shared concerns, specifically in the Southeast Asian region.
“The Philippines and Indonesia also work together with Malaysia to pursue trilateral cooperation in view of security challenges in maritime areas of common concern. Furthermore, as fellow founding members of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the Philippines and Indonesia work closely together under the Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM-Plus, as well as other multilateral fora based on common security interests and in support of Asean Centrality,” Andolong said.
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