Australia’s support in counterterrorism expanded into ‘Edca’
AUSTRALIA will transform its counterterrorism support to the Philippines into a defense cooperation arrangement, thus further widening the partnership on defense and security between the two countries.
The shift was announced jointly by Australian Minister for Defense Linda Reynolds and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at the sidelines of the ADMM-Plus meeting in Bangkok, on Saturday, according to a statement released by the Department of National Defense (DND).
The DND said that both leaders issued that Australia’s support under Operation Augury-Philippines will transition into Enhanced Defence Cooperation Program by next month. The Philippines has an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the United States. The defense cooperation will reinforce the two states’ long-term commitment in countering regional terrorist threats and in further boosting their well-established bilateral defense relationship.
“Minister Reynolds and Secretary Lorenzana recognized that after the siege of Marawi in October 2017, Australia’s contribution under Operation Augury-Philippines has provided counterterrorism capacity training to over 10,000 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” the statement said.
“This training cooperation has included essential land-based activities focused on urban combat and joint coordination skills; air training focused on enhancing air coordination in the urban environment; and maritime training activities,” it added.
The DND said that Reynolds and Lorenzana agreed that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program will allow the Australian Defense Force to continue delivering the capacity-building support for counterterrorism cooperation requested by the Philippines.
The program will also provide funding certainty and greater flexibility to meet the broader needs of the Australia-Philippines bilateral defense relationship.
“Minister Reynolds and Secretary Lorenzana underscored that long-term engagement under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program will strengthen their shared commitment to regional security and stability,” the DND said.