Department of National Defense (DND) Officer in Charge Jose Faustino Jr. met the defense ministers of Japan and Australia in Hawaii last week to discuss how to further deepen the Philippines' respective bilateral relations with the friendly nations.
DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said Wednesday, Oct. 5, that Faustino held separate bilateral dialogues with Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada of Japan and Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles on the sidelines of his official visit to Honolulu last Sept. 30.
Faustino and Hamada primarily talked about the current security situation in the South and East China Seas, according to Andolong.
This came ahead of North Korea's reported test firing of a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, earning the ire of Tokyo and other nations including the United States and South Korea. The missile reportedly fell off the Pacific Ocean.
The Philippines, on the other hand, has yet to react to this.
But according to Andolong, Faustino and Hamada agreed during their meeting to discuss frameworks of cooperation that would further expand and deepen thr Philippines-Japan bilateral relations and "support each country's efforts in ensuring a secure and stable environment."
Meanwhile, Faustino reaffirmed to Marles the DND's commitment to enhance the Philippines-Australia bilateral defense relations through maritime cooperation activities, counter-terror trainings, education and professionalization opportunities, dialogues, and consultations.
The defense officials also discussed the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region, Andolong noted.
"Also emphasized during the meeting are prospects for multilateral training activities with like-minded countries in addressing traditional and non-traditional security concerns," Andolong stated.
Faustino went to Hawaii last week primarily to meet United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and discuss the defense ties of the two countries.