The United States and the Philippines have signed a new military cooperation agreement to increase intelligence-sharing between the two nations and pave the way for Manila to receive more sophisticated U.S. weapons systems.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement at a ceremony at the Camp Aguinaldo military base in Manila on Nov. 18.
The agreement allows the United States to share sensitive military information, including details necessary to operate sophisticated weapons, including missile systems.
“Not only will this allow the Philippines access to higher capabilities and big-ticket items from the United States, it will also open opportunities to pursue similar agreements with like-minded nations,” Philippine Defense Ministry spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said.
Past Philippine efforts to obtain sophisticated weapons from the U.S. military have been hampered by a lack of such an intelligence-sharing deal. […]
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