With enhanced defense and economic cooperation between the Philippines and Australia, we can look forward to even closer relations anchored on mutual trust and mutual benefit in the years ahead
The recent visit to Australia of President Marcos Jr. appears an unqualified success as it not only strengthened our political and defense ties but also led to enhanced trade and investment relations.
Marcos pointed out in his remarks before the Australian Parliament that the Philippines was on the “frontline” of a battle for regional peace as he sought support in maritime disputes with China: “In Australia we see a natural partner in our efforts to defend, preserve, to uphold our open, inclusive, and rules-based international order, to ensure that it remains governed by international law and informed by the principles of equity and justice.”
The president emphasized that defense and security remain a key area of cooperation between our two countries and that we look forward to more joint activities and the capacity-building efforts along this direction.
We should point out that Australia is the only nation other than the United States to have a visiting forces agreement with the Philippines. Last year, Manila and Canberra held joint military exercises in the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea.
Enhanced ties since then as shown by the Marcos visit have yielded agreements to strengthen civil and defense maritime commitments and cooperation on cyber technology.
The leaders of the two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on enhanced maritime cooperation aimed at boosting collaboration in civil maritime security, marine environment protection and maritime domain awareness, as well as upholding international law.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for his part, announced a $20-million investment to support the Philippines in instituting reforms in its justice system.
Manila and Canberra actually upgraded bilateral ties in September 2023 to a strategic partnership amid rising security challenges in the region.
Marcos was also invited to deliver a keynote speech at the Lowy Institute where he shared his views on the Philippine perspective on “great power” rivalries.
He is the first Philippine President to speak before the forum. He said “the pursuit of the great powers’ respective strategic goals must never come at the expense of the interests of smaller states, nor of regional and international peace” as he underscored the importance of a rules-based international order.
The President also said he expects stronger trade and economic relations between the Philippines and Australia.
Greater economic cooperation, he said, would allow the Philippines to be resilient amid economic shocks, and provide an enabling environment for businesses and labor markets on both sides to further flourish under the strategic partnership.
On the sidelines of his second visit to Australia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Special Summit earlier this month, Marcos managed to secure business deals worth $1.53 billion (P86 billion).
These consisted of 10 memoranda of understanding between Filipino and Australian business leaders and two letters of intent from Australian business leaders interested in setting up shop in the Philippines.
The agreements span diverse sectors, such as renewable energy, waste-to-energy technology, organic recycling technology, countryside housing initiatives, establishment of a data center, manufacture of health technology solutions, and digital health services, among others.
The visit also led to a partnership between the National Development Co. and an Australian firm for the transfer of the latter’s biowaste-to-green fuel technology.
The NDC aims to establish a globally recognized institute in the Philippines called the Southeast Asia Biosecurity Institute, focused on developing more robust supply chains for biosecurity across Southeast Asia.
At present, based on reports of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, 130 Australian-owned companies are currently located in economic zones across the Philippines.
These companies have invested P14.28 billion, employ more than 55,000 Filipinos and generate almost $1 billion in annual exports.
During a meeting with the Filipino community in Melbourne, the president commended them for being hardworking and passionate in integrating themselves in the diverse Australian society and to contribute to the betterment of their adoptive communities.
In fact, Australia hosts the fifth-largest Filipino immigrant community numbering around 400,000, who are also contributing to the Philippine economy through remittances to their families back home.
With enhanced defense and economic cooperation between the Philippines and Australia, we can look forward to even closer relations anchored on mutual trust and mutual benefit in the years ahead.
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