By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienof, A reporter
The PHILIPPINES and the United States signed an intelligence sharing agreement on Monday, deepening the defense relationship between the two countries facing common security challenges in the region.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III signed the agreement with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo C. Teodoro, Jr. at the military headquarters in Manila where they also opened the foundation of a coordination center that will facilitate cooperation between their soldiers.
This agreement, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), allows both countries to share confidential military information securely.
“This will not only allow the Philippines to acquire high-end capabilities and big-ticket items from the United States, it will also open opportunities to pursue similar agreements with like-minded nations,” said Philippine Department of Defense spokesman Arsenio R. Andolong.
GSOMIA provides that both parties will protect and treat classified military information with an equivalent level of protection as required by the releasing government.
A legally binding bilateral agreement facilitates the sharing of information when the need arises.
It does not oblige either country to share information but requires both sides to report any compromise, or potential reversal, of confidential information provided to the other side.
The agreement defines security equivalence within each country’s security systems for planning and standards for the protection of disclosed information.
Under the agreement, both parties will allow visits by the other party’s security experts for the purpose of conducting mutual security surveys.
The agreement is considered a foundational agreement for other possible security agreements. It does not expire but can be amended or suspended, if necessary.
“We see that the storm coming from China has overwhelmed the respected US and the Philippines with the need to establish security measures in the sharing of intelligence,” said Joshua Bernard B. Espeña, vice president of the International Development and Security Cooperation (IDSC).
“The only question is whether they can get this picture against China’s intentions, capabilities, and where it is, and if so, they will respond appropriately,” he added.
Mr. Espeña said the agreement was long overdue amid the rise of cybersecurity threats threatening the intelligence ecosystem.
“Another reason for the delay is the lack of coordination of the strategic objectives of both countries for the past years,” he said. “You do not collect and share information without a clear purpose lest it be a mistake of human and non-human resources.”
GENERAL AGREEMENT
But Antonio L. Tinio, a former lawyer who currently co-chairs a nationalist group called P1nas, said the agreement was another “one-sided arrangement that jeopardizes the sovereignty of the Philippines.”
He said the agreement will improve America’s capabilities in terms of intelligence, surveillance, and intelligence (ISR) capabilities in the region – an imbalance that will make the Philippines “more dependent on intelligence provided by the US.”
“This arrangement effectively allows the US to pursue an agenda in the West Philippine Sea, the Luzon strait near Taiwan, and other areas based on whatever information it chooses to share with us,” he said.
“We will be seeing this situation through American eyes, guided by American interests.”
The former lawmaker urged Congress to look into the deal and “its impact on Philippine sovereignty.”
To Mr. Espeña, the analyst, the agreement “ultimately,” is about “enhancing cooperation between the Philippine and American militaries as the Philippine military is willing to acquire more advanced, high-tech capabilities everywhere.”
Also on Monday, Mr. Austin and his colleagues led a major event at the Combined Coordination Center inside the Philippine military headquarters near the capital Manila.
The US Embassy in Manila said the facility is designed to enhance cooperation between the Philippine and US armed forces through the US Indo-Pacific Command’s multi-base training platform.
The Pacific Multidomain Training and Experimentation Capability (PMTEC) is pushing for coordinated and joint military training across the Pacific.
The facility in Manila will allow the two forces to operate as a joint command for “strategic planning, joint operations, intelligence sharing, and rapid response coordination,” the embassy said.
The center will ensure that “both nations are ready to face regional challenges,” it added, citing conventional and unconventional security threats.
DEEPER COMMITMENT
The facility “symbolizes the deepening of the relationship, demonstrating the ironclad partnership that has emerged through consistent training such as Exercise Balikatan and the Multilateral Maritime Combined Activities (MMCA), emphasizing cooperation and improving defense,” said the US Ambassador.
“This structure demonstrates the US commitment to stand with the Philippines in our collective defense capabilities while promoting a cooperative, multilateral approach to regional security,” it added.
At the event, Mr. Austin announced that the US government will provide $1 million in humanitarian aid to support disaster relief efforts in the Philippines after the Southeast Asian country was hit by six major typhoons in just two months.
He said this new aid will add to the $5.5 million in aid already provided to the Philippines through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) since September.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. he has pursued closer ties with the US amid an increasingly belligerent China, claiming almost the entire South China Sea including waters within the Philippine economic zone.
Last year, he gave the US access to four other Philippine military bases, under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Mr. Marcos told Mr. Austin during their meeting at the presidential palace that the EDCA areas have been an important “stage platform” for the Philippines before and after the disaster.
“They act as staging areas, when we know a storm is coming, we put as much, as much equipment, as much equipment as we can, as close as possible so we don’t damage the real resources we have,” he said. .
“And the EDCA areas have become staging areas because right after the storm, many areas can only be reached by helicopter,” he added. “Also many roads are closed due to landslides and therefore, even the largest state capital can only be reached by air.”
Mr. Austin said he authorized the US military to “provide life-saving assistance” to the Filipinos.
“Our work together especially over the past 40 years has made our alliance stronger and better.” – with Reuters
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