US, Australia eye sea patrols with...

security, including the resumption of joint operations in the South China Sea.

Based on a handout provided by Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Austin discussed with Galvez by phone developments in the West Philippine Sea, including the recent incident in which a Chinese coast guard vessel directed a military-grade laser at the crew of a Philippine Coast Guard ship off Ayungin Shoal.

The U.S. defense official also underscored the commitment of the U.S. to support the "lawful rights and operations" of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea. He reiterated that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, aircraft and public vessels, including those of its coast guard, will invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.

Austin reaffirmed the U.S. Defense Department's commitment to help bolster the Philippines' defense capabilities and capacity to resist coercion. Opportunities to expand security cooperation with other countries "that seek to uphold the rulesbased international order and our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific," such as Japan, were also discussed, the Pentagon said. Both defense officials committed to advance an "ambitious set of initiatives" leading up to the 2+2 Ministerial in Washington D.C. in the second quarter of this year.

Partnership Marles, who arrived in Manila Tuesday night, February 21, announced that Australia and the Philippines will sign a strategic partnership on the heels of the meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in November 2022.

Galvez and Marles agreed to establish on an annual basis a Defense Ministers' Meeting between the two countries the first of which will be held in Australia.

"We're gonna work together to look at ways in which we can deepen the opportunities where Filipino servicemen and women can work alongside Australian servicemen and women, and to that we're building upon training which is occurring right now in Mindanao," he said.

He said Australia will send one of the largest contingents to the Balikatan exercises in the coming months while the Philippines, for the first time, will send observers to Exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia in August. Marles noted that Australia and the Philippines have a "greater strategic alignment than we've had in any moment in our respective histories."

"It is deeply connected to our respective national interests that the rules of the road as they apply to a body of water such as the South China Sea, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the freedom of navigation, the freedom of overflight, all of these principles are completely central to our national interests, to our collective security," the Australian official said. Australia is the second country, next to the U.S., with which the Philippines has a reciprocal visiting forces agreement, signed in 2007.

Just this week, the two countries kicked off their six-week Army-toArmy Exercise. Marles will meet with President Marcos to discuss the two nations' bilateral ties. 

De Lima marks 6 years of ‘unjust...

let that happen," she added.

De Lima has been detained at Camp Crame since 2017 on