00:00So Leo, you recently visited Taiwan and you met some defense officials and experts there.
00:05I wonder what is the main takeaway from the trip?
00:08What is the current state of the cooperation between Philippines and Taiwan on defense?
00:12Well, with regard to the current defense ties between Taiwan and the Philippines,
00:18there is no such thing because we have a one-China policy in the Philippines.
00:23So we abide by it.
00:24What we only have are economic and low enforcement ties with Taiwan.
00:32So with regard to the lessons that we can learn, there are a lot because one is about their malign
00:40influence operations.
00:42They could influence through their trolls, information operations, United Frontworks.
00:48And in those things that China is doing, I believe we can exchange information and try to determine courses of
00:58action,
00:58how to counter those activities of China.
01:03So during your recent trip to Taiwan, you mentioned a potential evacuation plan for Filipino non-competents who's currently living
01:12in Taiwan.
01:13I do wonder if you can elaborate more on the plan.
01:17What might the plan look like in events of a Chinese invasion?
01:21Because we cannot cooperate military to military, we can cooperate through humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
01:33And I believe a non-competent evacuation operation could be a start or an entry point for us to cooperate.
01:42There are around 150,000 Filipinos in Taiwan.
01:46And in case of a Taiwan contingency, it will be a problem for not only for Taiwan,
01:53but also for the Philippines to repatriate Filipino citizens.
01:59For me, in my background as military, it's better to be prepared.
02:06It's not really being alarmist or it's not really being instigating something.
02:11But to prepare for a crisis to mitigate, to mitigate its effects.
02:19Crisis management, basically, the principle is to prevent or mitigate the loss of lives and properties.
02:31I want to talk a little bit about this year's Balikaten exercises.
02:36This year, we've seen more participating countries like Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and France.
02:43Why do you think there are more countries participating at this moment?
02:47And what does that signal about the Philippines' efforts to build more international partnerships?
02:53Well, I'm not private to this current Balikaten, but I can share my experience on the previous Balikaten.
03:01And that's between the U.S., the Philippines, and there are other observers during that time.
03:08Japan, of course, Australia was part also.
03:13So I believe it matters as an activity to deter a China aggression.
03:22It's a matter of deterrence, okay?
03:26Cooperation among these countries, if China will see it,
03:31then they would see that the Philippines is not alone in this issue.
03:36Let's talk about Japan's role this year.
03:39We know that from last year, Japan and the Philippines have started implementing this reciprocal access agreement.
03:47And this year, Japan actually sends more combat ground troops to the Philippines for the Balikaten exercises.
03:55Why do you think this moment?
03:57And what is the strategic importance?
03:59Well, I think the activities of Japan right now have been planned before.
04:05It has been concretized because of the RAA.
04:09When I was in the active duty, we have already some engagement with Japan.
04:14We participated in the Lund Pacific Forum.
04:20And Japan is already there.
04:22Of course, Australia is there.
04:24And there are already plans for Japan to participate.
04:27First, they were observers before.
04:31But now I believe they executed the plan of them participating full force here in the Philippines.
04:41First, I think the capacity is now introduced.
04:42Thanks for the leadership and the inspiration for it.
Comments