Vietnam defense chief to visit PH

Vietnam flag. (Arianne Lacanilao/PCI Photo)

By Priam Nepomuceno, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. sees stronger defense ties between the Philippines and Vietnam with the coming visit of his Vietnamese counterpart.

Teodoro said Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang would be in the country on Friday to sign defense cooperation agreements between Manila and Hanoi.

The agreements can help in building the momentum for cooperation between the two countries’ defense and military sectors, Teodoro added.

“On the state level side, Vietnam was one of the countries our President (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) visited in order to forge greater ties and relationships, intra-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and I believe that a South China Sea way forward was part of the conversation between our President and the Vietnamese President at that time. So (we) do see fertile ground for working together in order to get a level of confidence and trust,” he said during the open forum of Tuesday’s 35th International Military Law and Operations Conference (MILOPS 24) held at The Manila Hotel.

Teodoro also called for more international support for the Philippines to promote a rules-based international order in the West Philippine Sea.

“Please help the Philippines be, as (US) Ambassador (MaryKay L.) Carlson said, ‘a global leader in enforcing and upholding rules-based international order, norms of international law,’ and do not let the Philippines be a victim for standing up to international law,” the DND chief told participants of the conference.

He emphasized that the Philippines is not merely upholding its own sovereignty and sovereign rights, but is a test case for the agreed interpretations of the civilized world of what is international law, particularly the law of the sea.

“I’d like to carry on from the statement of Ambassador Carlson, that the venue of this conference was both deliberate and significant. Indeed, the Philippines is at the forefront of upholding international law on this side of the world,” the defense chief added.

Teodoro said that nations should adhere to the tenets of international law, especially the United Nations Charter amid regional security challenges.