The Philippines bolsters defense in the West Philippine Sea with a new alliance with France after a meeting between Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and French Minister Sébastien Lecornu during his Manila visit on Saturday.
During their meeting, Teodoro and Lecornu discussed current regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East/Southwest Asia, and Europe, underscoring the rules-based international order and calling for the peaceful resolution of disputes.
The two also signed a Letter of Intent to raise the level of interaction between Philippine and French armed forces, and consolidate exchanges through practical cooperation, including strengthening the legal framework of bilateral defense relationship by initiating discussions on defense agreements, consideration of a visiting forces agreement, enhancing defense and military activities like capability development and joint defense industry cooperation, affirming their determination to work for a stronger long-term partnership in the maritime, land, aerial, and information domains.
Furthermore, they highlighted their shared positions supporting a free, open, inclusive and stable Indo-Pacific and expressed adherence to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 United Nations Arbitral Award on the South China Sea, with regards to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue.
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