The Philippines and Australia signed a new Defence Cooperation Arrangement in Manila on Sunday, November 15, an agreement Manila said will cut bureaucratic hurdles to joint military activities as the two countries deepen security ties with an eye on the South China Sea.
Source: Reuters
The signing took place at the Eva Macapagal Cruise Terminal at Manila South Harbor, according to the Philippine News Agency. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Marc Innes-Brown signed the arrangement, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese witnessed the ceremony while in Manila for the 49th ASEAN Summit.
Source: Philippine News Agency / Australian PM office
100 steps down to 10
Teodoro said the arrangement will streamline implementation of the two countries' Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, or SOVFA, by simplifying coordination procedures. “Rather than 100 steps to do a single thing, it will just now take 10,” he told reporters, describing the deal as an “anti-red tape measure” for implementing SOVFA.
Source: Reuters
The arrangement modernises a 1995 memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation and complements the existing visiting-forces framework rather than replacing it, the Philippine News Agency reported. Albanese said it would enhance maritime awareness and information sharing and increase strategic dialogue, training, interoperability and defence infrastructure development.
Source: Philippine News Agency / Australian PM office
Deterrence in the South China Sea
Teodoro said the arrangement would pave the way for closer cooperation involving maritime, air and land forces, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and would bolster the Philippines' “credible deterrence posture”, including in the South China Sea.
Source: Reuters
Albanese also announced additional Australian investment in maritime domain awareness, including drone technology, equipment and training aimed at improving detection of maritime and cybersecurity threats.
Source: Reuters
The Philippines has been broadening its network of security ties while complementing its long-standing alliance with its treaty partner, the United States, in the face of what Manila describes as China's aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea, where countries have overlapping maritime claims. Australia has consistently backed Manila's position, supporting a 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal that China's sweeping claims have no basis under international law — a decision Beijing rejects.
Source: Reuters
China's defence and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent on Sunday, Reuters reported. Beijing maintains that its actions in the South China Sea have been lawful and professional, and it routinely opposes Manila's joint military activities with allied partners, saying such drills heighten tensions in the region.
Source: Reuters
Part of a wider web
The bilateral deal lands days after defence ministers from Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States committed on November 10 to stronger deterrence, greater interoperability and a Combined Coordination Center in the Philippines. The two countries already run exercises such as Balikatan, Pitch Black and Carabaroo, and GMA News reported that Teodoro highlighted how faster coordination would also help disaster response, equipment procurement and joint exercises on land and at sea.
Source: Philippine News Agency / Australian PM office
Both governments now have to turn the arrangement into work plans, training schedules and infrastructure projects. Its first real test will be how much faster joint activities and disaster deployments can actually be organised under the simplified SOVFA procedures.
Albanese said the arrangement reflects the maturity of the relationship as Australia and the Philippines mark 80 years of diplomatic relations in 2026. For Manila, the deal is one more strand in a widening security web built around the South China Sea dispute; for Canberra, it locks in a closer operating partnership with Southeast Asia's frontline claimant state.
Source: Reuters