PH, allies to open coordinating center in Manila

Defense Sec. Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. —Photo from the official DNS Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines, Australia, the United States and Japan, an informal regional defense partnership collectively called the “Squad,” will soon inaugurate a “coordinating center” in Manila, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Monday.

In a forum hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Teodoro said the four nations agreed to hold “a lot of minilateral activities together,” but gave no additional details on the new center.

“The easiest to pull together is the maritime cooperative activities in the West Philippine Sea. However, there will be more coordination and cooperation on that basis,” he said. —Frances Mangosing