American and Philippine officials inked an intelligence-sharing agreement and broke ground on a new command center in Manila today as the two countries tighten defense and security relationship amid South China Sea tensions.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement, a long-gestating treaty permitting the transfer of sensitive intelligence between the two long-standing allies. The agreement will also allow for the exchange of defense technologies and expand information sharing according to a Pentagon release on Austin’s visit to the oldest U.S. treaty ally in the region. Manila also claimed that the agreement would open up more intelligence-sharing opportunities with other “like-minded nations.”
Austin and Teodoro broke ground for a new Combined Coordination Center at Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The Philippine military stressed the importance of the new command and control center, citing its creation as a “tangible representation” of the alliance and its future use as a “key liaison platform” during military exchanges, defense planning and modernization initiatives.
“This center will enable real-time information sharing for a common operating picture, and it will help boost interoperability for many years to come. It will be a place where our forces can work side-by-side to respond to regional challenges,” said Austin.
U.S. forces currently operate drones from two airfields in the Philippines in Luzon and Mindanao respectively. While Army drones have been operating out of Edwin Andrews Air Base for years in support of counterinsurgency operations in Mindanao, one of the drones was spotted last year monitoring a Philippine resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57) that was being harassed by Chinese forces in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps deployed an unspecified number of MQ-9A Reaper drones to Basa Air Base, which permits the deployment of American forces under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, in the Spring in support of combined intelligence-gathering missions. Navy P-8A Poseidons have also been spotted at numerous airfields across the country from Cebu-Mactan to Clark International Airport.
Alongside the intelligence pact and the command and control center, Austin also announced an additional $1 million in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief funding ahead of the sixth major storm to hit the Philippines within the last two months. This adds onto the existing $5.5 million already committed by Washington via the U.S. Agency for International Development. The intensity and frequency of storms that hit the Southeast Asian country have drastically increased this summer, prompting Manila to call upon U.S. and ASEAN partners to aid in disaster relief efforts in Luzon.
Last month saw the 15th Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Rotational Force – Southeast Asia, which arrived prior to the KAMANDAG Marine drills, aid Philippine forces in ferrying supplies to Northern Luzon via MV-22B Ospreys from USS Boxer (LHD 4). Indonesian, Singaporean, Malaysian and Bruneian aviation also arrived earlier in the month for relief operations.
Austin’s visit caps off an intensive period of cooperation between Washington and Manila during the Biden Administration, which included enhanced basing access, more realistic and frequent military exercises and half a billion in military aid. Tomorrow, Austin is slated to visit the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command, the primary force encountering China in the South China Sea in Palawan.
