The Philippines has formally established a new joint military framework, “Task Force Philippines,” with the United States to strengthen credible deterrence and streamline disaster response, Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. announced Sunday.

The move came as the Philippines also inked a new defense pact with Canada.

Teodoro explained in a press conference that “Task Force Philippines” is an operational arrangement between the US Indo-Pacific Command (Indo-PACOM) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The initiative consolidates various bilateral defense activities under one coordinated framework, with AFP Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. already establishing a strategic command to be part of the task force.

“It is a, shall we say, an efficiency mechanism to funnel all the activities,” Teodoro said.

The arrangement aims not only to bolster joint military readiness and maritime deterrence but also to improve coordination during humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.

“We do not only converge in deterrence but we also converge because of the frequency of natural calamities that have beset us,” he added.

Teodoro stressed that the creation of the task force is anchored on the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the US and the Philippines, rather than the Visiting Forces Agreement.

The task force’s launch comes amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea as Teodoro stressed that its purpose is to “build resilience both internally and externally,” noting that deterrence is “one part of a broader effort to ensure stability and preparedness.”

The bilateral defense push continued as the Philippines and Canada signed a landmark Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA), a pact that allows the two nations to deploy their forces to each other’s territory and deepen defense cooperation.

Teodoro signed the agreement with Canadian Minister of National Defense David McGuinty in Makati.

McGuinty called the SOVFA a “deliberate choice” and Canada’s first such defense deal with a country in the Indo-Pacific region. He said it “will bring our countries closer together at a time… when we are strengthening our armed forces and our people.”

Teodoro cited that the SOVFA’s strategic value extends to expanding cooperation in critical areas such as maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, and cyberdefense capability.

He stated that the agreement seeks to uphold rules-based international orders, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and “resist attempts to redefine the norms for the selfish advantage of powerful countries.”

The SOVFA is the fifth of its kind for the Philippines, which has existing pacts with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. The agreement comes shortly after the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity was concluded in the West Philippine Sea.