His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday received in audience Secretary of National Defence of the Philippines Delfin N Lorenzana.
Also present were Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof; Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Major General Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Muhammad Haszaimi bin Bol Hassan, and Ambassador-Designate of the Philippines to Brunei Darussalam Marian Jocelyn R-Tirol Ignacio.
Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines enjoy close and long-standing defence cooperation, strengthened through the signing of a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation on August 22, 2001, which ranges from defence agreements and professional exchanges at all levels to training and exercises across land, navy, and air force from both sides.
The defence relationship is also underpinned extensively through various multilateral platforms, which include the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM-Plus, as well as international peacekeeping operations, such as the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and International Decommissioning Body Verification and Monitoring Assistance Teams (IDB-VMAT) in Mindanao, the Philippines.
The defence secretary is currently in the Sultanate for a three-day official visit which concludes today.
The visit aims to continue efforts to strengthen defence cooperation between Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines.
