Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo is pushing for more partnership between the Philippines and the US in other areas as he noted the “new complexions” in the current strategic environment.
Manalo wanted to boost the alliance between Manila and Washington in artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons, cyber and space, which will go on top of maritime domain awareness, which both sides are already pursuing.
His suggestions came as he said “we need new rules to ensure that these new emerging are not weaponized or misused in any way to subvert the rule of law.”
He also did not want those emerging assets “to challenge the rule of law and to not be used to exploit the vulnerable or violate the human rights and human dignity of peoples.”
“We we have the new complexions in the strategic environment [that] require all countries, especially the Philippines and US to work together more closely in various domain,” he said at a dialogue organized by Asia Society in New York on Friday (US time).
Manalo said today is “the period” where the alliance and strategic comprehensive partnership between the Philippines and the US “has been growing.”
And the current anxieties on geopolitical tensions should not hinder both sides to pursue more partnership, he added.
“Working together, including with other like-minded countries in our region and in other regions, we hope to certainly build up a strong foundation for cooperation on the basis of international law,” Manalo said.