US-PH dialogue on defense, economic cooperation set Nov. 14

MANILA – The Philippine and United States governments are set to hold their ninth bilateral strategic dialogue (BSD) from November 14 to 15 in Washington, D.C., the US Embassy in Manila announced Friday.

Since January 2011, the BSD has brought together senior leaders from both nations to discuss cooperation on defense, economics, rule of law, and regional diplomacy.

The Embassy said the upcoming dialogue would be co-chaired by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink alongside Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner.

Philippine Ambassador to US Jose Manuel Romualdez will join the US representative together with Department of National Defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna.

The dialogue comes months after the Philippine government restored its Visiting Forces Agreement with the US, a move that reflected the continuing alliance between the two nations.

The last BSD was held in Manila in July 2019.

During the previous dialogue, Manila and Washington D.C. pledged to enhance their already robust defense cooperation by improving defense infrastructure, updating personnel and logistics procedures, and increasing mutual communication and coordination on operational elements of regional security.

Both sides back then also commit to begin planning on a range of activities to improve maritime domain awareness.

The 2019 BSD had also resulted in the signing of a joint statement on Higher Education Cooperation and a Science and Technology Agreement.