Australia and the Philippines signed a new defence agreement in Manila on Sunday, designed to streamline the execution of joint military exercises, maritime patrols, and disaster response operations.
The accord, officially titled the Defence Cooperation Arrangement, was signed by Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Australian Ambassador Marc Innes-Brown. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the signing ceremony while visiting the country for regional summits. The pact updates a previous 1995 agreement and builds upon a 2012 visiting forces agreement that already permits military personnel from both nations to train on each other's home soil.
Teodoro stated that the updated framework will significantly cut administrative burdens when conducting shared operations. He noted that rather than taking 100 steps to perform a single action, the simplified process will now take just 10 steps. He added that deeper integration across naval, ground, and air forces would strengthen the Philippines' ability to deter security threats, particularly in the South China Sea.
According to Australian officials, the framework encompasses joint military planning, intelligence and information sharing, maritime activity monitoring, combined training, and defence infrastructure development. Addressing questions regarding whether the agreement was crafted to counter Beijing's regional influence, Albanese said the pact is not aimed at any single nation, emphasizing that its goal is supporting the sovereignty of every country. He highlighted that a majority of Australian maritime trade navigates through the South China Sea, underscoring the vital need to maintain open commercial shipping lanes.
Alongside the signing, Canberra announced additional funding for its Southeast Asia Maritime Partnerships programme. The funding will provide regional partner nations with surface and aerial drones, secure communication equipment, and specialised training to bolster defenses against maritime threats and cyberattacks. Australian officials did not disclose a specific financial figure for the assistance.
The signing comes amid a series of recent steps by Manila to reinforce security alliances. On November 9, Japan pledged a 4.3 billion yen (€24 million) grant to supply coastal radar systems and surveillance drones to the Philippine military to monitor surrounding territorial waters. Furthermore, a joint statement issued on November 10 confirmed that Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States have committed to establishing a joint military coordination centre in the Philippines while expanding combined training exercises and aligning defence investments.
China maintains broad territorial claims in the South China Sea that overlap with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines and several neighboring Southeast Asian nations. Beijing has frequently denounced Manila's expanding defense activities with international partners, arguing that such moves heighten regional instability. In 2016, an international tribunal determined that China's claims to historic rights over resources in the region had no legal standing under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a decision Beijing continues to reject.
