DEFENSE Secretary Gilebrto Teodoro Jr. and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, signed a defense cooperation agreement last Wednesday, bolstering the relations of the two nations.
The Arrangement Concerning Defense Cooperation was signed in Berlin, Germany, where Teodoro earlier attended the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting, the Department of National Defense (DND) said in a statement yesterday.
The agreement was signed nine months after Pistorius visited the Philippines. During their meeting, Pistorius and Teodoro agreed to pursue an “overarching framework” to advance the relationship of the two defense departments, pursuant to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to strengthen the country’s international ties.
“The arrangement builds on the 1974 Administrative Agreement concerning Training of Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel in Germany, one of the longest defense cooperation frameworks of the Philippines with another country,” said DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong.
He said the agreement also “expands cooperation between the two defense and military establishments in the fields of cyber security, defense armaments and logistics, and United Nations peacekeeping, among others.”
“After the signing, both defense ministers will convene the 3rd Philippines-Germany Security and Defense Staff Talks to review and concretize proposed joint activities and initiatives to be implemented under the said arrangement in the coming year,” added Andolong.
During the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting, Teodoro pledged that the Philippines will increase the number of Filipino peacekeepers deployed under the UN peacekeeping system.
