MANILA, Philippines — The chiefs of the Philippine Army and Royal Brunei Land Forces (RBLF) have agreed to deepen the military ties of the two countries.
Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto and RBLF Brig. Gen. Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Khairul Hamed Bin Awang Haji Lampoh signed the terms of reference effectively implementing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on defense on cooperation between the two countries signed on Aug. 22, 2001.
“The TOR serves as the guideline as well as the rules of procedure for future activities between the PA and RBLF as it embarks on having a deeper partnership,” said acting Army public affairs chief Col. Patricio Ruben Amata in a statement Thursday.
Unlike in previous years when the activities of the two armies are limited to student exchange programs, they now intend to conduct working group meetings, training courses, bilateral trainings, exchange of visits, subject matter exchanges, and intelligence exchanges.
Brunei is among the Asean states in which the Philippines had an MOU on Defense Cooperation. Australia, Canada, Russia, Spain, UK, Israel, and the USA are also Philippine defense partners.