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| Old US Navy base at Subic Bay (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Ankit Panda
The agreement will be signed by President Obama when he visits the Philippines later this month.
The Philippines and the United States on Friday reached agreement on a new security accord which will expand military cooperation between the two old allies and allow the United States military to share local bases with the Philippines armed forces for maritime and humanitarian operations. As The Diplomat reported last month, the deal has been under negotiations for some time now.
According to Reuters, the agreement will be a highlight of President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Manila from April 28-29, when he is expected to sign the final draft. Pio Lorenzo Batino, Undersecretary of Defense and chair of the Philippine negotiating panel, said that the two countries had reached consensus on “key points.” “The draft provisions on key points of an enhanced defense cooperation will be submitted to the president for his review,” Batino added in a statement.
Read the full story at The Diplomat