Phl, Cambodia enhancing defense cooperation

The Philippines and Cambodia agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation, Department of National Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said Tuesday.

This came after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. met with Ambassador of Cambodia Phan Peuv at the DND headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City earlier this week.

Andolong said Teodoro urged the Cambodian leader to strengthen their bilateral cooperation with the Philippines in the field of cybersecurity, humanitarian mine action, and disaster risk reduction among others.

During their, meeting, both officials tackled pressing matters such as the use of illegal mines and explosives as they committed to work together against command-detonated mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which hugely affect civilians and communities.

The Ambassador, for his part, extended an invitation to Teodoro as Cambodia will be hosting the Fifth Review Conference (5RC) of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction, also known as "Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World."

The Philippines and Cambodia were among the ASEAN Member States that ratified the Convention of Cluster Munitions.

According to Andolong, both sides looked forward to conducting working-level discussions on the said cooperative initiatives during the upcoming hosting of the DND of the 4th Philippines-Cambodia Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC) Meeting this year.