MANILA – The meeting between ranking Philippine and United States defense officials

highlights the strong bilateral defense relations between the two nations.

"Our meeting highlighted the importance of the bilateral defense relations between the

Philippines and the US, and we were able to discuss forward-looking, practical, and tangible

ways on how to empower our partnership through improving defense cooperation across various

lines of efforts," Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Jose

Faustino Jr. said in a statement Friday.

He also added that his meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III at the

US Indo-Pacific Command in Honolulu, Hawaii on Thursday (US time) also discussed

"increasing interoperability" between the two armed forces.

Faustino also said this includes information sharing between the two militaries "with the end

view of further enhancing the credibility of our alliance."

"The Philippines and the US have a shared history, spanning more than 70 years as friends,

partners, and allies. In those years, our cooperation in political, economic, and socio-cultural

relations has expanded, and our ties, including that between our defense establishments, have

continued to grow stronger," he added.

Faustino also said the Philippines’ defense and security engagement with the US remains a key

pillar of the two nations' bilateral relations.

"And we appreciate the US government’s willingness to work with the Philippine government as

an equal, sovereign partner. Our two countries are working together to reach a common

understanding of the importance of our defense alliance and what it means to recognize each

other as equal partners in advancing our respective countries’ interests and in promoting peace

and prosperity in the region," he added.

Faustino and Austin's meeting comes at the culmination of the planning cycle of the Philippines

and the US' bilateral defense activities for next year.

"The bilateral meeting we held this afternoon was a welcome opportunity to discuss the way

ahead for the Philippines-US alliance, based on the current priorities of our respective

administrations, as discussed during the recent meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand

R. Marcos Jr. and US President Joseph R. Biden in New York," the DND chief stressed.

This meeting marks the first in-person bilateral engagement between Faustino and Austin

following their phone call last September 1.

Both officials reaffirmed their commitment to the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty

(MDT), and discussed ways to further strengthen the defense alliance.

Faustino highlighted that the MDT is central to the Philippines' national defense policy, and

recognized that both sides agreed on common views on how the alliance will respond to current

security challenges.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional security developments and discussed

opportunities for cooperation in the maritime domain, increasing interoperability through

capacity and capability building activities, and modernizing and strengthening the alliance

through information sharing.

Austin highlighted the commitment of both sides to work together through the robust

implementation of bilateral exercises every year.

He expressed confidence that the two countries can do more together by increasing the

complexity of bilateral cooperation activities.

Both sides also see the value of implementing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement

(EDCA) in sustaining and developing individual and collective defense capabilities and

responding to current needs.

The two officials underscored the importance of Philippines-US bilateral defense relations

through discussions on forward-looking, practical, and tangible ways how to further enhance the

credibility of the alliance.