RANKING defense officials of Vietnam and the Philippines met last month in a bid to further strengthen defense relations, especially in the field of naval cooperation.
Vietnam’s Minister of National Defense Ngo Xuan Lich and Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana spearheaded the meeting. The two discussed possible ways to enhance their countries’ defense cooperation that has significantly improved since 2010, and greatly benefited both in the past few years.
Having discussed the recent unfortunate incident off the coast of Pangasinan involving a Philippine Navy vessel and Vietnamese fishermen that resulted in the loss of lives, Lorenzana extended his sincere apologies to Lich.
The defense chief also relayed President Duterte’s assurance that the families of the Vietnamese fishermen who perished in the incident would be properly compensated.
He added that concerned authorities are investigating the Philippine Navy personnel involved, and assured his Vietnamese counterpart that the case would be expediently resolved in a manner that is satisfactory to all parties.
In response, Lich suggested the establishment of a concrete mechanism between the navies of both countries to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future—a suggestion the defense chief strongly supported.
“Our defense cooperation with Vietnam has been very positive, and we intend to build on those successes,” he added.
Noting how Vietnam was able to develop its own military industry, Lorenzana added the Philippines may also consider tapping the expertise of Vietnam in developing the country’s defense industry.
Also discussed in the meeting were the possibilities of increasing the existing opportunities for exchange of senior and junior officers, information and intelligence exchange, joint training and addressing nontraditional security challenges, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response, piracy, illegal drugs and terrorism.
Image credits: Karl Norman Alonzo/Presidential Photo