DEFENSE Secretary Teodoro Jr and visiting Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin yesterday agreed to enhance cooperation between the two countries
in several areas, including disaster response.
“We agreed to deepen the cooperation of our defense departments and the armed forces, especially on defense industry cooperation,” Teodoro told reporters after a meeting with Sjamsoeddin at a hotel in Mandaluyong City.
Teodoro said the defense department has acquired ships and aircraft from Indonesia. All acquisitions were made under the AFP’s ongoing modernization program.
“We looking into areas where we can have joint production. Not only in that (area) but also in other areas where we can have G2G (government to government) or joint ventures,” said Teodoro.
Teodoro said they also discussed during the meeting Asean solidarity, military arrangement in the borders of the two countries, and climate change response.
He said they also discussed Indonesia’s role in keeping peace in Mindanao, noting Indonesia’s role in the successful peace process with the Moro National Liberation Front.
“We told them (Mindanao) is basically stable now but we need the help of everyone to develop the south, which will be a key also to continued peace and prosperity,” he said.
In a statement, defense department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said Teodoro and Sjamsoeddin discussed security developments in the Indo-Pacific region and “affirmed their shared interests as archipelagic nations.”
“They acknowledged that this fundamental similarity as neighbors can further deepen defense and military cooperation through sustained interaction and engagements at multiple levels,” he said.
During the visit, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr met with his Indonesian counterpart, Gen. Agus Subiyanto, said Andolong.
“The meeting underscored the shared vision of the Philippines and Indonesia in promoting a stable, secure, and rules-based regional order,” Andolong said.
