Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Holds an On Camera, On the Record Press Briefing in the PhilippinesContracts for Nov. 20, 2024Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III[...]

UNKNOWN: Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines, the Honorable Gilberto Teodoro Jr. Before we take questions from the media, may we hear the opening remarks from our secretaries, starting with Secretary Teodoro.

SECRETARY GILBERTO TEODORO: Well, today wraps up the two day visit of our good friend, good friend of the Philippines, Secretary Lloyd Austin III. Yesterday, we signed a historic agreement. The General Secrecy of Military Information Agreement, which I take it to mean is a seal of good housekeeping in so far as the Philippine Armed Forces is concerned, because it says or it states as a premise that we are operationally secure, our processes are safe and secure.

And because of this, we will be able to cooperate with each other on a different level. Secondly, we inaugurated the combined Cohort Coordinating Center, which will be a fusion center for joint combined activities in the future bilaterally which we need for interoperability given our shared threats and shared interests in the area.

Thirdly, the president expressed his, aside from talking about the strategic views of the president on our bilateral and multilateral relationships, he also expressed his personal thanks for the commitment of Secretary Austin towards the robustness of the Philippine-US defense relationship and the relationship in general.

Lastly, we are here today where Secretary Austin personally wanted to - wanted to pay a personal visit to Palawan where Admiral Torres discussed with him the operating environment. We also - he was also able to witness the specific bilateral activities that both our forces are conducting. And we discussed a bit of a way forward.

And lastly, we wish him a good trip to Laos where we will see each other again. And as Secretary Austin says, I will take a word out of his page, the Philippines is not an ally, it's family. And he certainly has proven it. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: Well, Secretary Teodoro, it's great to be here with you and we remain humbled by your hospitality. And once again, our thoughts are with all Filipinos affected by the recent typhoons and tropical storms. The United States stands with you to respond to this new growth. I've authorized US troops to provide direct support to help the Philippine Armed Forces provide life saving aid to the Filipino people. And we will continue to support your country as an ally and as a friend.

Today, my plane landed here in Palawan at Antonio Bautista Air Base, one of nine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites in the Philippines. These EDCA sites have been critical to delivering aid during disaster relief operations. As you know, I'm very proud of the fact that our forces can work hand in glove to respond to these disasters together.

In addition to humanitarian aid, I'm encouraged by the bold steps that we're taking together to make our alliance even stronger. Yesterday in Manila, we broke ground on a new coordination center at Camp Aguinaldo. This center will sharpen our operational coordination and strengthen our ability to respond rapidly to crisis.

Yesterday, we signed the new - the important new information sharing agreement known as Somnia [sp] after two years of negotiations. And that will further strengthen our overall military partnership. And so our cooperation continues to grow. That means deepening information sharing, combining maritime activities, joint training, and capacity building, and we can do even more in the future.

I just watched the Philippine Navy demonstrate the capabilities of a T-12 unmanned surface vessel. Now, the T-12 is one of several unmanned capabilities funded and delivered this year through US security assistance and we expect to see many more platforms like this delivered with $500 million in foreign military financing that I announced during my visit to the Philippines in July. This will help ensure that the Philippines has the capabilities that it needs to defend its rights and its sovereignty throughout its exclusive economic zone.

America is profoundly committed to the defense of the Philippines. Our commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty is ironclad. And let me say again that the Mutual Defense Treaty applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, aircraft, or public vessels, including our coast guards anywhere in the South China Sea. The past few years have been a period of truly historic progress for the US-Philippine Alliance. Glad to be here with you again. So thanks again for the tremendous cooperation and I'll be glad to take some of your questions.

UNKNOWN: Thank you very much. Our first question goes to [inaudible].

Q: Mr. Secretary and Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for doing this. We have heard that in recent months, China has been more aggressive in the South China Sea. Can you tell us what has happened and what the response has been from the US and Philippine side?

SECRETARY GILBERTO TEODORO: Well, it's the same story over and over again. They have been more aggressive in denying us access to our exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. They have really placed a lot of these pseudo military vessels disguised as Coast Guard vessels and maritime militia vessels in the areas of the West Philippine Sea. They have been very aggressive in their information operations against the Philippines, so

much so that yesterday, even the general secrecy of military information agreement, they have a comment about.

If you aren't paranoid, you wouldn't comment about it so far as I'm concerned because it is something bilateral to the United States and the Philippines. So all of these actions, to me, prove the existence of some motive, which is brought about by a closed political system excuse me, the political system where the external controls the internal political environment. Then again, in so far as the Philippines is concerned and in partnership with the United States, our main theme of cooperation here aside from being treaty allies, stands for upholding of international law and the fundamental and the values of freedom and democracy. Thank you.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: I absolutely agree with the Secretary. The behavior of the PRC has been concerning. You've heard me say that a number of times. They're viewed as dangerous and escalatory measures to enforce their expansive South China Sea maritime claims. When it comes to what we will do, I won't make any - I won't speculate or make about any hypotheticals when it comes to our mutual defense treaty. But we have emphasized and you heard me just emphasize it a couple of minutes ago that you know we remain committed to the treaty. We stand with the Philippines and we condemn dangerous actions by the PRC against the lawful Philippine operations in the South China Sea.

Again, this is concerning behavior. And we've made this point to our Chinese counterparts a number of times in a number of forums. So again, we'll continue to work with our allies and make sure that we're doing the right things to promote a secure and open Indo-Pacific. It's really important to everyone in this region.

UNKNOWN: Thank you. Next question will be from Mr. Romeo [sp].

Q: Sir, what we can expect with the upcoming change in the US administration after Donald Trump's win in the recent elections with regards to the issue of the West Philippine Sea? And what do we expect with the signing of the Somnia with regards to the Philippine Sea in the wake with more maritime operative activity is in [inaudible]?

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: So the question is, as I understood it, what can we expect with a new administration? Well, I won't speculate on what policies the new administration may - may put into play. What I can tell you though is that I'm really proud of the work that we've done together with our counterparts, our allies, our friends, our family here in the Philippines. If I look back on where, you know, how far we've come in terms of strengthening this relationship in the last four years, it really is phenomenal.

And again, we're going to continue to work to build on what we've done thus far. I think it's in the best of both of our nation's interests to continue to do so. And as [inaudible] said a couple of minutes ago and I say it often, we consider you to be more than just allies. We're family and I cannot imagine a day when the United States of America and the Philippines aren't closely aligned.

UNKNOWN: Thank you. Our next question will go to [inaudible].

Q: Secretary Austin, Secretary Teodoro, thanks for the opportunity. We've heard that cyber and asymmetric capabilities will be among the first delivered by the US to the Philippines under the new half billion FMF agreement. But can you provide examples of what exactly will be delivered first, when will they be delivered, and why those capabilities?

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: Well, we're still working - we certainly, as the Secretary has identified, you know what his priorities are and we will work with them to fulfill those priorities. But we want to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to help him increase its domain awareness, its ability to protect its sovereign territory and its interests. And cyber plays a critical role in that - in that respect. And you saw evidence of that earlier today when the T-12 was on display out there.

T-12, as you know, what a fundamental part of that is the ability to command and control that using, you know, cyber capabilities. We have to protect those capabilities. We have to ensure that also that, as we acquire more of these systems, that our supply chains are protected and that - and that we meet the demand as conditions change and things evolve. We stand ready to help our allies in any way possible and we're working together to do some of that. We've done that over the last several years. We'll continue to do that. And as Secretary identifies what his needs are going forward, certainly we stand ready to help.

SECRETARY GILBERTO TEODORO: I totally agree with the statement of Secretary Austin on the National Government of the Philippines from also convergence measures are being developed in order to protect our critical infrastructure, our domestic supply chains, and our telecommunication systems from vulnerabilities that we may be exposed to now and in the future.

Outside our collaboration, there are efforts within the armed forces and other agencies in order to develop appropriate measures to reduce vulnerabilities and to mitigate whatever may happen in the cyber sphere.

UNKNOWN: Next question is from [inaudible].

Q: Do you have an agenda, for Secretary Austin and Secretary Teodoro, [inaudible] since you had the most recent visit in the Philippines from a US Defense [inaudible] was achieved

in further strengthening the US-Philippines defense cooperation. And also [inaudible] the administration in the US, what change will the Philippines still receive the $500 million USD worth of military assistance once President Trump takes office?

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: Well, again, Patrick, thanks for the question. I won't speculate on what the next administration will do. What I can tell you is what I know. And what I know is that I've seen strong support for the Philippines in both parties in the United States. And my guess is that we'll continue to see that going forward.

This relationship is important. And you know, it's - I think that's evident to most people and I think you know it's in our best interest, as I said before, both of our best interests to continue to develop the relationship and help Secretary meet his goals in terms of modernization so that, you know, he can continue to protect his, his sovereign interests and the people of the Philippines, protect fishing rights and those kinds of things.

So I believe that this will remain an important country to us for many, many years in the future. And you know, the strength of our alliance, I think, will transcend changes of administration going forward. So again, I won't speculate on any changes in policy or anything that the new administration may - may bring on board. What I will tell you is that this is an important country, not only to me, but to people in both parties back in the United States.

SECRETARY GILBERTO TEODORO: It will be perhaps entirely inappropriate for me to speculate as to the policy of the new administration, particularly if it's a foreign country. Suffice it to state that our alliance is based on institutional grounds. We have built institutions particularly faster in the last two years with a view towards a robust and ongoing and an enduring alliance. Enduring here is what is the operative word, since our interests converge this part of the world.

And for the Filipinos, I think we naturally, because the United States is our treaty ally, we would like certainty or clarity in our bilateral relations. That's quite natural. But we should be looking also at the other side of the coin equally with our anticipating a possible what will happen in the United States next year. We should be calling out what President Xi is thinking about insofar as China is concerned because the operative factor, the causative factor, which has caused this alliance to be as robust as it is, is the Chinese overreach and aggression in this part of the world.

UNKNOWN: All right. So that concludes our program for today. Thank you all for coming. May we ask everyone to please remain seated while our traveling delegation exits the venue. And thank you very much. Good afternoon.

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