PHL to set up Indo-Pacific defense council with US, Japan and Australia

THE PHILIPPINES is joining the United States, Japan, and Australia in forming an intergovernmental defense council amid concerns over China’s “destabilizing” actions in the East and South China Sea, according to a joint readout of defense ministers’ meeting.

- By Adrian H. Halili

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. met US Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, and Japanese Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, where they reiterated commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“The Ministers and Secretaries reiterated their serious concern regarding China’s destabilizing actions in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and their strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quoby force or coercion,” the readout, shared by the Philippine Defense department late on Sunday, said.