00:00As part of his visit to the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III headed to the AFP Western Command in Palawan
00:08where the official reassured that the strong alliance between the Philippines and America will continue.
00:14Patrick de Jesus of PTV has news for the country.
00:20An unmanned surface vessel unit is one of the new uses of the Philippine Navy.
00:24It is a type of drone boat for navigation and detection that can be used to guard the Philippine waters.
00:32It was included in the inspection of the visit to the AFP Western Command in Palawan
00:37by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III and Defense Secretary Ghevot Yodoro
00:42along with AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Browner Jr. and other military officials.
00:48The drone boat is the product of defense and security assistance from America.
00:52Is it possible to add this type of modern use of the AFP?
00:56Especially in the 2 plus 2 ministerial dialogue last July,
00:59there was an agreement for the United States to give the Philippines 500 million U.S. dollars worth of military financing.
01:08Despite the change of administration in the appointment of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump next year,
01:14Austin said that the Philippines is an important ally of America.
01:18I won't speculate on any changes in policy or anything that the new administration may bring on board.
01:28What I will say is that this is an important country, not only to me but to people in both parties back in the United States.
01:36Yodoro is confident that the Philippines will accept the military grant from the U.S.
01:42Absolutely.
01:44I am still confident because our interests are the same, nothing will change.
01:50Upon the visit of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III here in Palawan,
01:54he reaffirmed the ironclad relationship between the Philippines and America under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
02:02This is Austin's fourth visit to the Philippines as U.S. Defense Secretary
02:08before he flew to Laos for the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus.
02:13He and Yodoro passed the General Security of Military Information Agreement or GESOMIA,
02:19wherein China made a comment.
02:22Yodoro has an answer to China's comment.
02:26If you weren't paranoid, you wouldn't comment about it so far as I'm concerned
02:30because it is something bilateral, United States and the Philippines.
02:37GESOMIA expanded and accelerated the exchange of information and defense technology cooperation between the two countries.
02:45Classified military information should be protected.
02:48Our cooperation continues to grow.
02:51That means deepened information sharing, combined maritime activities, joint training and capacity building.
03:01And we can do even more in the future.
03:03From Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Patrick De Asus for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
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