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Teodoro sees more interoperability with US, other allies

Philippine News Agency

By Priam Nepomuceno
March 28, 2025, 5:31 pm

MANILA -- As the Philippines works closely with treaty ally United States and other like-minded countries in reestablishing deterrence capabilities, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday said "increased interoperability activities" are expected.

Activities may include joint exercises and realistic training in a myriad of scenarios, Teodoro said.

"God forbid, however, we must be prepared to answer and to meet and even to deter any possibility in the future for our mutual defense and the defense of freedom and international law," he said during a press briefing shortly after a meeting with his American counterpart, Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Teodoro said they discussed quality enhancement of the Philippine investments in terms of strategic basing and capability upgrades, including the skill sets of the Filipino military and civilians supporting the Philippines' Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept.

"The deployment of NMESIS (Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction anti-ship missile system) and other unmanned service vehicles will hasten the introduction of these technologies in the vista of the Philippine armed forces and will train our troops to train for higher technological capabilities that we need for effective deterrence in the future," Teodoro said.

He added that the Philippines is prepared to take a more active role in rallying its other allies to resist any attempt to change international law by "fait accompli" in the South China Sea.

"Because of the increased interoperability activities, we expect increased rotational presence of like-minded and allied troops in the Philippines. With our strategic basing initiative, we will also expect a heightened tempo of the Philippine armed forces for external and territorial defense to put in our share of deterrence," he said. (PNA)