Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Richard Marles made a courtesy call at Malacañang Palace on Friday, meeting with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.

Marles is in the Philippines for the second Philippines-Australia Defense Ministers Meeting, hosted by the Department of National Defense.

He was accompanied by Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Marc Innes-Brown.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro also attended the meeting on behalf of the Philippines.

While in the country, Marles is scheduled to observe Exercise Amphibious and Land Operations 2025, or Exercise ALON 2025.

The joint training exercise, which runs from Aug. 15 to 29, involves more than 3,600 personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Australian Defence Force.

The Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Marine Corps are also participating.

The exercise, which is Australia’s largest overseas joint training activity this year, is taking place across Luzon and Palawan and aims to enhance interoperability, readiness and regional security cooperation among the participating forces.