Pio Lorenzo Batino, Defense Undersecretary and Chair of the Philippine negotiating panel. AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Humanitarian assistance and disaster response will be tackled as the Philippines and United States resume on Thursday the eighth round of negotiations for an Enhanced Defense Cooperation.
The negotiations will be held again at the Department of National Defense headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo on April 10 -11 or 15 days after the seventh round. Talks are rife that the deal would be signed in time for the visit of US President Barack Obama late this month.
The agreement will allow the US a wider access to Philippine military bases amid heightened tensions with China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea)
“Calamities such as typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan as well as the ongoing search for the Malaysian Airlines plane underscore that friendly armed forces are in a unique and crucial position to provide timely responses in these events. Time is of the essence in these situations and, as often the first responders, friendly armed forces can provide much-needed human, technical and equipment assistance and support for the success of those efforts,” said Pio Lorenzo Batino, Defense Undersecretary and Chair of the Philippine negotiating panel.
Batino said both panels recognize this added key dimension to this updated framework of defense cooperation.
“We are working together for the realization of the full potentials of closer partnership in ensuring timely and adequate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief responses,” he said.
In the previous round, Batino did not mention specifics on the negotiations but said they made “further progress.”
Batino noted other benefits from the agreement under negotiations, including “critical and timely” support to the Philippine military, achievement of the country’s minimum credible defense posture and provision of jobs and other economic opportunities through local goods and supplies.
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