THE Philippines and France signed on Thursday, March 26, 2026, a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (Sovfa), which is seen to greatly bolster bilateral cooperation and offer an adequate level of legal protection to the joint activities between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the French Armed Forces.
The two countries made the announcement following a bilateral meeting between Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and French Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans Catherine Vautrin in Paris.
Teodoro and Vautrin discussed current regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East/South-West Asia and Europe where they emphasized the importance of multilateralism and rules-based international order.
In a joint statement, the two ministers also called for the peaceful resolution of disputes and the strengthening of supply chain resilience in the context of a crisis.
They also expressed adherence to the spirit and provisions of 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the primacy thereof, as well as the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea.
The Philippines also welcomed France’s rapprochement toward Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, noting its very valuable participation of French representatives to the Expert Working Groups on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) and maritime security.
“Both sides welcomed the fruitful dynamic of interactions between France and the Philippines, guided by the December 2023 Letter of Intent (LoI) on strengthening the bilateral defense relationship,” the statement read.
“Secretary Teodoro and Minister Vautrin acknowledged the positive development of the cooperation, demonstrated by the regular convening of the bilateral defense dialogues, visits by defense and armed forces delegations, regular educational exchanges, port visits and aerial stopovers, as well as naval and disaster response training activities,” it added. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)