Philippines, Australia ink updated defense cooperation deal

UPDATED PACT. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Marc Innes-Brown at a signing ceremony for the Philippines-Australia Defense Cooperation Arrangement in Manila, November 15, 2026.

Hollie Adams/Reuters

The Defense Cooperation Arrangement updates an earlier 1995 deal to serve as a ‘contemporary bilateral defense framework’ for the two countries

MANILA, Philippines – Officials from the Philippines and Australia on Sunday, November 15,  signed the Philippines-Australia Defense Cooperation Arrangement (DCA), an update to a 30-year-old agreement. 

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Marc Innes-Brown signed the agreement at the Manila South Harbor in the presence of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 

Albanese is in Manila for the 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits.

The DCA, according to a joint statement by Teodoro and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles following a bilateral meeting last August, would “set the contemporary bilateral defense framework” from the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation. 

Manila and Canberra’s bilateral ties have grown closer under the Marcos administration. The two countries officially elevated ties to a strategic partnership in September 2023. In February 2024, Marcos addressed Australia’s parliament — an honor extended to only a handful of world leaders.

The two countries have had a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement since 2012, giving soldiers from both countries easier access to each other’s soil for training exercises and humanitarian response. The two militaries hold regular bilateral and multilateral drills and exercises, including in the West Philippine Sea.

Canberra is among Manila’s closest partners, particularly in trying to assert its entitlements in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, which China claims as its territory. – Rappler.com