The Philippines and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are seeking to boost their defense and military cooperation by forging an agreement.

Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Director Arsenio Andolong bared this Friday, March 17, just as a 19-member delegation from the National Defense College (NDC) of UAE headed by Brig. Gen. Staff Pilot Khalifa Butti Thani AlShamsi is set to end their week-long visit to the Philippines.

The foreign delegation, which is in the country from March 11 to 18, was received by DND Undersecretary for Strategic Assessments and Planning Ignacio B. Madriaga when they paid a courtesy visit at the DND Building in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City last March 13.

The visitors followed this up with a courtesy visit at the headquarters of the Philippine Navy (PN) in Manila on March 17.

“[B]oth countries looked forward to developing bilateral defense relations and the signing of the proposed Philippines-UAE Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Defense Cooperation which is envisioned to provide a framework for defense and military relations between both countries,” Andolong said.

Further details of the MoU signing have yet to be disclosed by the DND.

But according to Andolong, Madriaga considered the visit of the UAE delegation as a “major engagement” with the Middle Eastern country, noting that it “reflects the interests of both countries to establish personnel interaction, and develop defense and military relations.” 

“He [Madriaga] conveyed that the DND identified the UAE as one of its potential partners in the Southwest Asian/Middle East region,” Andolong noted.

In 2021, the Office of the Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attache (OPhilDAFA) was established in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of UAE. It is regarded as the DND’s first PhilDAFA post in the Gulf region, according to the defense department.

The UAE also donated Covid-19 vaccines, personal protective equipment (PPEs), and medical supplies to the Philippines during the height of the pandemic in 2021. Madriaga took the opportunity to thank the UAE government for such initiatives.

After a briefing, the students from the Abu Dhabi-based college interacted with the DND officials through an open forum. They tackled a wide array of topics including the Philippines’ National Defense Strategy.

The National Defense Strategy defines the thrusts of the Defense Secretary for the DND to secure sovereignty and territorial integrity; uphold and sustain internal stability; attain the highest standard of capability and preparedness on disasters; improve and sustain operations in support to global peace and security; and promote good governance.

The students and the DND officials also talked about the regional security environment; capability development initiatives; and collaboration on addressing terrorism, cyber challenges, natural calamities, and other defense and security concerns.