Asean defense ministers’ meeting opens in Clark
CLARK FREEPORT— The 11th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) opened yesterday with focus on ter rorism and violent extremism.
“Terrorism and violent extremism remain as challenges in South East Asia. Thus this ADMM will focus on the progress of defense cooperation including the formulation of new initiatives,” Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
“Our meeting is an indicator of a robust state of defense cooperation among ASEAN-member states,” Lorenzana added.
Established in 2006, ADMM is the highest defense consultative and cooperative mechanism in the ASEAN.
It aims to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defense and security challenges, as well as enhancement of transparency and openness among the 10 ASEAN member-states namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Meanwhile, ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN Defense Ministers to engage their counterparts from the Plus countries namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and Unites States.
With the establishment of the ADMM-Plus in 2010, the ADMM-Plus Experts’Working
Groups on humanitarian assistance and disaster response, maritime security, counter-terrorism, military medicine, peacekeeping operations, humanitarian mine action (demining) and cybersecurity were organized to promote practical cooperation that would enhance the ADMM-Plus members’defense and military interoperability and capability.
Australia, PH defense cooperation Meanwhile, Defense Minister Marise Payne reiterated the strong defense cooperation between the Australia and the Philippines.
“Australia and the Philippines have (an) extremely long shared regional and military history and our engagement here in the surveillance activity (in Marawi) has been an important extension of that,” Payne said as she visited the crew of AP-3C Orion Aircraft of the Australian Defence Force.
“When I met with (Philippine Defense) Secretary Lorenzana and had an opportunity to discuss the challenges that the government of the Philippines was facing in Marawi, it was very important to me that I was able to see the enthusiasm that Australia’s contribution was an important one,” she shared. Payne is in the country to attend the 4th ASEAN Defense Ministers (ADMM)-Plus Meeting in Clark today, Tuesday.— Shane F. Velasco and Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu/ PIA-3