The country’s defense sector got a much-needed support from Thailand’s navy amid efforts to modernize the Philippine Navy (PN) and increase deterrence capabilities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

This was revealed by the Department of National Defense (DND) on Sunday, July 7, following the recent courtesy visit of Admiral Adoong Pan-Inam, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy, and his delegation at the DND Building in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Pan-Inam was welcomed by DND OIC Undersecretary Angelito M. De Leon, who shared the status of the implementation of the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC).

The CADC seeks to develop the country’s capability to protect and secure the entire Philippine territory and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and ensure that all the bounties of the natural resources within them will be freely reaped by the Filipinos.

“In response, Admiral Adoong shared Thailand's best practices in manufacturing its own ammunitions, weapons, missiles, and military naval assets, particularly its offshore patrol vessels, and spare parts for its frigates,” DND spokesperson Director Arsenio Andolong said.

“He also mentioned Thailand’s willingness to support Philippine defense industries through enhanced partnership and collaboration,” he added.

De Leon also expressed hope that Thailand could be among the Philippines’ partners in developing the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) program, which aims to enable the country to produce weapons, small arms and ammunition, tactical communications equipment, basic land vehicles, and small sea craft using local materials. 

This would decrease the dependency of the DND and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to foreign markets and help create a robust local defense sector.

“Both officials agreed to increase navy-to-navy engagements through established dialogue mechanisms,” Andolong noted.

Further, De Leon also conveyed possible areas of cooperation including linkages with tech and systems developers to “jointly enhance cybersecurity, and ensure the protection of cyber-networks as both countries recognize the importance of cyber defense in protecting critical infrastructure” under the implementation of the 2021 Memorandum of Understanding on Logistics and Defense Industry Cooperation between the two countries.

As the Philippines and Thailand also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, De Leon and Adoong also underscored the importance of sustaining their defense partnership and a shared vision of peace and security in the region. 

The diplomatic relations between the two countries was formally established on June 14, 1949.