The Philippines and Canada have committed to an increased bilateral engagement, particularly in bilateral defense cooperation.

This comes following the meeting between Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Canadian Ambassador David Bruce Hartman and Vancouver His Majesty's Canadian Ship commander Meghan Coates earlier this week at the Department of National Defense headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the HMCS Vancouver is set to participate in the humanitarian assistance and disaster response, particularly in the Search and RescueTraining component of Exercise SAMASAMA 2023, an annual joint naval exercise between the Philippines and the United States.

During his meeting with the DND officials, Coates conveyed that the Canadian crew "is happy to be in the country and looks forward to the upcoming activity."

Meanwhile, Hartman highlighted the increase in engagements between the Philippines and Canada since his last meeting with Teodoro last 4 August this year.

Hartman said that Canada, as a stalwart of international order, remains committed to supporting the rules-based order of the Indo-Pacific region, and is looking towards broadening the scale of interoperability between the Philippine Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy.

Both sides expressed their strong and resolute commitment to enhancing Philippines-Canada bilateral defense relations with the purpose of maintaining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Meantime, Teodoro awarded Col. Stewart Taylor, outgoing Canadian Non-Resident, Defense Attachè to the Philippines, the first-ever SND Plaque of Merit, given to a Foreign Armed Forces Attachè for his extraordinary and outstanding performance.

Teodoro said Taylor was highly instrumental in advancing Philippines-Canada defense cooperation.

He also recognized Taylor's active role in accelerating the finalization of the proposed Philippines-Canada Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation.