Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce recently met to tackle various issues of mutual concern including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the response to the tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), among others, the Department of National Defense (DND) announced Friday, June 4.

Defense Spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the cooperation between the Philippines and the United Kingdom (UK) to combat COVID-19 took the spotlight during a teleconference call attended by Lorenzana and Pruce last Wednesday, June 2.

Lorenana and Pruce exchanged updates on the vaccine rollout, the challenges encountered by both countries in the ongoing pandemic, and other COVID-related developments in the Philippines and UK, Andolong said.

Lorenzana expressed his appreciation to Pruce as he recognized UK's "important role" in the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines, which were manufactured by a British-Swedish company, to the country. A total of 2,556,000 AstraZeneca vaccines have been delivered to Manila through the COVAX facility since March 1.

"Both officials emphasized the importance of cooperation in dealing with common challenges such as the pandemic," Andolong said.

Lorenzana also welcomed the deployment of UK's biggest warship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, to the Indo-Pacific Region on May 23. Included in the HMS Queen Elizabeth's tour is its passage in the South China Sea (SCS) and the Philippine waters.

Lorenzana bared that a component vessel of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will conduct a port visit to Manila to "demonstrate freedom of navigation" in the SCS and "promote closer bilateral relations" between the Philippines and UK.

Lorenzana also shared to the envoy the government’s ongoing efforts "to raise understanding and build capacity" in dealing with its overlapping maritime claims with China in the SCS.

For his part, Pruce reiterated UK's support to the Philippines as he emphasized that internationally-recognized laws, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), "must take precedence." The British Ambassador also relayed UK's readiness to provide assistance to the Philippines' "capacity-building efforts."

Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic and the SCS tension, Lorenzana and Pruce also took up matters concerning both countries' defense cooperation such as acquisition projects, counter-terrorism efforts, and the establishment of a resident defense attaché post in each other's territory.

The Philippines and the UK will convene the 2nd Joint Defense Committee (JDC) meeting later this month.