THE Philippines is offering Australia a strategic partnership similar to the country’s arrangement with the United States and Japan, President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Wednesday.
“We only have two strategic partnerships—one with the United States of America and the other with Japan. We’re offering the third to Australia and they are presently studying it,” the President said during the annual forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in Manila.
But even without a strategic tie up, the President said, Australia has been assisting the Philippines with the Coast Watch System that provides trainings to Filipino soldiers conducted by the Australian military security forces.
The system also provides scholarships for the Philippine military personnel. Australian experts also meet with various institutions in the country, he added.
According to the President, the Philippine-Australia partnership is important because both countries share the same values, form of government as well as regional and global challenges.
“We have been normally on the same side of issues that have confronted our respective peoples since at least World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. We face the same challenges be it terrorism, global climate change, relationships with the superpower in the neighborhood,” he said.
“All of these lead to shared values, in a sense, shared background and therefore it promotes closer cooperation between our peoples.”
The Philippine Senate ratified in July the Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) between the Philippines and Australia.
Legislators said the Philippines can gain from SOVFA through military education, training, and exercise, humanitarian activities, and other related endeavors with Australia. (PND)
