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MANILA, Philippines <\/b>\u2014 Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the Philippines must \u201cresist and deter any attempt to change the international order to the detriment of our people and future generations.\u201d He issued the statement as he urged stronger collaboration between the government and European businesses to help build a more resilient and self-reliant defense sector.<\/p>\n
Addressing members of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) in Makati City Friday night, Teodoro warned that the country was \u201cat the spearhead of current threats to the international order,\u201d citing China\u2019s latest illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea.<\/p>\n
He said the Philippines\u2019 position at the center of regional tensions underscored the urgency of reshaping its defense capabilities into a \u201cmulti-threat, multi-domain system.\u201d \u201cThe President has instructed us to be unyielding and to reshape our defense ecosystem as quickly as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Teodoro said the Department of National Defense (DND) was pursuing two main priorities: strengthening internal defense resilience and expanding strategic partnerships with like-minded nations.<\/p>\n He cited ongoing negotiations for Visiting Forces Agreements (VFAs) with France and the United Kingdom, and a similar initiative being explored with Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more convergence of like-minded countries at the spear\u2019s tip, the better,\u201d he said, referring to the importance of collective deterrence in maintaining regional stability.<\/p>\n Teodoro also pressed for comprehensive reforms in defense funding and procurement, lamenting that military spending had long been \u201cmiserably low.\u201d He said the DND would prioritize the development of strategic bases and shift to government-to-government arrangements for defense procurements and industrial collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will focus on what we truly need, not just what\u2019s available,\u201d he said, adding that defense self-reliance depended on \u201creliable, diversified, and secure supply chains\u201d aligned with the Philippines\u2019 national interests.<\/p>\n He further expressed the DND\u2019s readiness to establish a structured partnership with the ECCP grounded in transparency and trust, describing it as essential to strengthening the country\u2019s defense-industrial base.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many a times, even with partner government agencies, we have always been the whipping boy. And that ended when Ferdinand Marcos took office and when he appointed me as the Defense Secretary,\u201d Teodoro said. \u201cThat is the obligation I owe to the Filipino people, and that is the standing order of the President.\u201d Teodoro said the DND\u2019s goal was not only to modernize the Armed Forces but also to ensure that defense and industrial cooperation contribute to long-term national security and economic stability.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 \u00a0 MANILA, Philippines \u2014 Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the Philippines must \u201cresist and deter any…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[177],"tags":[85180,79,73562,6393,18,19,1452,17,85179,85177,67173,234,235,8953,85178,20200,1213],"class_list":["post-144149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-alter","tag-business","tag-chief","tag-defense","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-international","tag-ireland","tag-moves","tag-must","tag-order","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-philippines","tag-resist","tag-says","tag-to"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115433338483607190","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}