Marcos bolsters ties with Germany amid proposed defense plan

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday reinforced the Philippines' ties with Germany following the announcement of a defense agreement between the European country and the Philippines. 

Marcos received German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at Malacañan Palace. Pistorius is the first German defense minister to visit the Philippines, despite Germany being one of the Philippines’ oldest formal defense partners through a 1974 administrative agreement. 

“We look always to our partners, which are allies, for support, and we are grateful to Germany for continuing to support a rules-based and international law that we all have abided by.  We thank you and I am very happy that you had the chance to meet with Secretary Gilbert and the members of my official family for these coordinations and nice communications,” Marcos said in the meeting with Pistorius. 

In turn, Pistorius thanked Marcos and informed him of the discussion with Defense Secretary Gilbero Teodoro on Sunday.  

“We decided, both of us, that we would like to have a security agreement, a defense agreement between our two countries and we want to try to sign it until the end of the year,” Pistorius said. 

According to Pistorius, the agreement is closed, adding that they already sent a draft a few weeks ago and they will continue to finalize it. 

“It is necessary even more than ever before to work together, to stand together, to support rules-based international order, because all of us know and we experience every day that the security of one region is always at the same time the security and stability of the other region,” Pistorius said.    

In a joint statement of Teodoro and Pistorius, both reaffirmed their countries commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also reiterated their support for the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea, which upheld the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.     

“The Ministers strongly opposed any unilateral attempt to advance expansive claims, especially through force or coercion,” the joint statement read.  

Moreover, Teodoro and Pistorius agreed to have broader defense cooperation between Germany and the