Phl, Germany eye broader defense cooperation pact this year

The Philippines and Germany have committed to “revitalizing and deepening” their bilateral ties in a “comprehensive manner” as they are eyeing to sign a broader arrangement on defense cooperation before the end of this year.

This came after Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. met with Germany’s Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius at a hotel in Makati City on Sunday, where they tackled the scope of expansion of the mutually beneficial cooperation between the Philippines and Germany “into new areas.”

Pistorius' first-ever visit to Manila also coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Philippines-Germany diplomatic relations, which was formally established in 1954.

The two defense officials' meeting serves as a follow-up to former Department of National Defense Officer-in-Charge, Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez, Jr.’s meeting with Minister Pistorius on 3 June last year on the sidelines of the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), where both sides discussed prospects for deepening defense cooperation toward the shared goal of upholding peace and stability.

In a press conference, Pistorius said both countries have been crafting a comprehensive "Arrangement on Defense Cooperation" between the Philippines and Germany.

“It's ongoing to be prepared during the months to come and hopefully to be signed before the end of the year, maybe already in October we will see about that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Teodoro noted that the soon-to-be concluded Philippines-Germany Arrangement on Defense Cooperation is seen to revamp the country’s build-up for a credible deterrent posture consistent with the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept.

“A defense cooperation agreement will center, number one—on a mutual understanding regarding capabilities, training, exchange of information, and the traditional defense cooperation arrangements bilateral countries have,” he said.

Teodoro said the Philippines agreed to exchange further cooperation initiatives in various fields with Germany, “as soon as the defense cooperation agreement” is concluded.

“We feel that there are synergies in technology, in defense industries, in capabilities, in a mutual exchange of training and education, and in a host of other areas, particularly in the technological and cyber sphere,” he added.

Armament acquisition

Both countries also agreed to expand their bilateral relations on armament acquisition.

Teodoro said the cooperation between the two countries in terms of armaments acquisition “will depend on the ability of German’s defense firms to furnish” the requirement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under its Horizon 3 modernization program.

“We're looking forward to defense cooperation also. We hope that the new self-reliant defense postural is passed which will allow for participation, more specifically in emerging and disruptive technologies,” he added.

Teodoro also noted that defense cooperation is “definitely something with a value proposition to anyone due to the “need to increase the resilience of supply chains worldwide.”

He further noted that a strong armed forces is a vital component of any stable country.

“Defense spending is something that you cannot ignore or deny. It will always be there,” he said. “Most especially in a country situated in an area where there are political leaders.”

Teodoro said a credible deterrent posture is necessary both for discouraging unlawful behavior by any threat actor in one's country.

For his part, Pistorius highlighted that the crafting of such a defense pact would go “more than armament cooperation.”

“So we talked a lot this morning about cooperation with regard to training, training officers, training staff, and so on. This is crucial for, at first place, I think to start again, to continue and to increase the numbers,” he added.

Premature VFA yet

Asked if the eyed defense pact would prelude to the country’s another Visiting Forces Agreement, Teodoro replied: “I believe will be too premature to say, whether or not a visiting forces agreement will result from this.”

“Who knows, but we cannot say at this time,” he said.

The Philippines has an existing VFA with the United States and Australia, respectively.

In May, the Philippines announced plans to enter into VFA with France, allowing each other's troops to hold military exercises in each other’s territory.

Further, the Philippines has been elevating its strategic defense and military cooperation with "like-minded" nations such as the US, Australia, and Japan amid the increasing security challenges in the West Philippine Sea.

These countries have also joined the Philippines in a multilateral maritime cooperative activity in early April this year.

Phl eyes MCA with Germany

On the other hand, Teodoro announced the Philippines is also eyeing to sail with Germany.

“We have invited the ships of Germany—that are visiting in a few months— to participate in a maritime cooperative [activity] and a passing exercise and I hope this happens,” he said.

During their meeting, Teodoro and Pistorius discussed trends in the security environment and exchanged views on regional issues in the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Europe.

Germany is one of the Philippines’ oldest formal defense partners after the signing of the Administrative Agreement, concerning the training of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel in Berlin in 1974.