By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
THE Philippines and New Zealand on Wednesday signed a visiting forces agreement (VFA) that would bolster military cooperation and let their armed forces hold joint exercises in each other’s territories.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. and New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Anne Collins signed the military pact at the presidential palace in Manila, making Wellington the fourth country with which Manila has a VFA.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines Catherine McIntosh and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo, witnessed the signing.
The two nations held their first round of negotiations for the pact in January and reached a consensus a month later, paving the way for its finalization.
Senate ratification is required for the agreement to take effect in the Philippines, while treaties in New Zealand become binding without formal parliamentary approval.
“This agreement will create conditions for even more seamless cooperation in the defense space,” Ms. Collins told a news briefing. “It will ensure that we are prepared to work hand-in-hand when urgent responses are required.”
The Philippines, already bound by military agreements with the US, Japan and Australia, is pursuing closer security ties with allies amid tensions with China over disputed features in the South China Sea.
Tensions flared between the two nations again this week after Chinese state media reported that Beijing had seized a reef near a Philippine military outpost in the hotly contested region, a claim that prompted Philippine security officials to issue a denial.
Ms. Collins said the region’s strategic environment is “deteriorating,” leading New Zealand to establish defense links with other nations. “We have vowed to step up and play our part, working with others in our region.”
China has sought to expand its influence and project naval power beyond its region, with its navy making an unannounced voyage around Australia from February to March and conducting live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea — over 8,000 kilometers away from Hainan Island, China’s nearest major landmass — separating Australia and New Zealand.
“Peace is best backed with resilience and with deterrence,” Mr. Teodoro told the same briefing. “China, for example, is particularly aggressive in the way it makes its claims. We need to deter this kind of unwanted behavior from happening.”
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.
Manila is also exploring visiting forces agreements with France and Canada.
Mr. Teodoro said a visiting forces agreement with Canada would be signed “very soon,” while the Defense department has just received the authority to negotiate one with France.
Meanwhile, Mr. Teodoro said his agency is reviewing more than 50 military agreements spanning from memoranda of understanding to defense cooperation and exchanges that the Philippine government has with nations that don’t share Manila’s position on the South China Sea.
The Defense secretary did not identify which countries were being scrutinized by his agency, but said he was not “singling out” any nation.
“We are also in the process of reviewing the agreements with countries that do not support our claims and that do not have benefit to our defense and foreign policy position,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the media briefing.
The Defense department’s “options are open” when it comes to taking action on the agreements the Philippines has with what Mr. Teodoro described as “misaligned” countries, including revoking the military deals under review. “The review started on day one from my assumption.”
