Manila: President Benigno Aquino said he is looking forward to a stronger security alliance with Australia following an earlier agreement between the Philippines and Australia to upgrade the monitoring of sea lanes of the Philippines western flanks facing the contentious South China Sea.
“There are various trainings being conducted by their (Australia’s) military security forces with our own (Philippine) personnel in the form of scholarships,” Aquino said, as he described ongoing implementation of the security arrangement between the Philippines and Australia.
“We face the same challenges, be it terrorism, global climate change, or relationships with the superpower in the neighbourhood,” said Aquino.
The Philippines, a member country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an ally of the United States and Japan.
The Philippines and the US also have a joint agreement with regards monitoring systems on the South China Sea.
The new security arrangements were implemented after Philippine and Chinese ships were engaged in a standoff near Scarborough Shoal in April this tear. This was after Chinese government ships prevented a Philippine Navy ship from arresting Chinese fishermen who allegedly poached endangered marine species near the Scarborough Shoal, located near Philippines’ Zambales in central Luzon.
China, Taiwan, and Vietnam (and ASEAN member) claim the entire South China Sea, based on their respective historical rights. Brunei, Malaysia, and Philippines claim some parts of the Spratly Archipelago off the South China Sea, based on the provision of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that countries have 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone from their shores.
Aquino is scheduled to visit Australia and New Zealand from October 22 to 26, in response to invitations extended by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
