MANILA, Philippines, November 19 ------ The Philippines and the United States signed an agreement that provides the legal framework that allows the treaty allies easier and faster real-time information-sharing and “technology cooperation.”
The deal, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), was signed in Camp Aguinaldo during US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to the Philippines. The signing followed a bilateral meeting between Austin and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. GSOMIA has no expiration but may be amended or suspended. The agreement also means that both countries will protect Classified Military Information according to the requirements of whichever country the information comes from. It also does not mean, however, that either country is compelled to share information, but it does make the process faster should either need it.
The GSOMIA’s signing was a long-time coming. In 2021, then-Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral Philip Davidson, in a statement before the US Senate, highlighted the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s commitment to invest in US defense equipment as part of its modernization, as well as to conclude negotiations on the GSOMIA. Both countries had been aiming to finish discussions on the GSOMIA, with a commitment to sign it by 2024’s end. During Austin’s last visit to Manila with State Secretary Antony Blinken in July 2024 for a 2+2 meeting also in Camp Aguinaldo, both the Philippines and the US again committed to conclude the GSOMIA by the end of the year.
In their joint statement then, the two countries said the GSOMIA would “lay the foundation for enhanced, expanded, and timely sharing of information and defense technology” alongside the recently extended Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement. Bilateral ties between the Philippines and the United States have increased dramatically in the past two years. During Austin’s last visit to Manila for a 2+2 ministerial meeting, the US promised to allocate $500 million in foreign military financing for the Philippines. The Philippines had earlier agreed to opening four more sites to US access through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The US is the Philippines’ largest and most important partner, especially when it comes to security and defense. The two countries are bound by the Mutual Defense Agreement, which has since been clarified to cover attacks in the South China Sea. The US is among the Philippines’ loudest allies amid an increasingly belligerent China, which claims a huge part of the South China Sea, including areas that are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. During Austin’s visit to Camp Aguinaldo, Teodoro also conferred the Outstanding Achievement Medal “in recognition of the US Defense Chief’s substantial contributions to strengthening the Philippines-US bilateral defense ties and promoting regional security in the Indo-Pacific.”
Source: rappler.com
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