MORE cooperation between the Philippines and the United States may be expected following the completion of this year’s Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board meeting on Thursday.
Representing the Philippine military in the meeting in Camp Aguinaldo was Armed Forces Chief Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. while the US was represented by Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) head Admiral Philip Davidson.
“We have been doing this year after year, and yet there is still so much left to learn,” Galvez said.
“We hope that this year will be another fruitful interaction that will lead to a favorable outcome. May our discussions lead to actions, and may these actions lead us to success.”
Galvez made his statement even as Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Thursday night the United States had again offered its F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines.
“They offered us some equipment that we might want to buy like the F-16s and the attack helicopters,” Lorenzana told reporters on the sidelines of China’s 69th founding anniversary reception in Makati.
USINDOPACOM is America’s oldest and largest military combatant command.
Based in Hawaii, it consists of 380,000 soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and coast guardsmen and is responsible for all US military activities in the Indo-Pacific covering 36 nations.
Galvez and Davidson ensured continued and robust relations between their respective militaries.
The meeting also resulted in the approval of 281 security cooperation activities between the two countries for 2019, higher than the 261 activities slated for this year.
Both the Philippines and the US were looking forward to the ongoing close cooperation in areas vital to national and security interests, including counter-terrorism, maritime security, cyber security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Galvez said.