The Philippines and Brazil have agreed to enhance their bilateral defense relation and work within the ambit of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

This developed after Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. met with the Ambassador of Brazil to the Philippines, Gilberto Fonseca Guimaraes de Moura, at the Department of National Defense headquarters earlier this week.

Teodoro underscored the need to work together to address common security challenges.

De Moura, for his part, reaffirmed Brazil's commitment to working with the countries within the Indo-Pacific region.

Teodoro and de Moura agreed that the Philippines and Brazil will boost their relations in accordance with the 2022 Philippines-Brazil Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation.

Brazil is the first country in South America with which the Philippines has formalized a defense cooperation agreement.

Among the areas of cooperation in the field of defense include logistics and defense industry collaboration, information sharing, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, among others.