00:01Assure a possible visiting forces agreement-like arrangement between the
00:05Philippines and Germany?
00:06Okay, now I understand what you're saying. I'm sorry. Well, why not? We probably, in reality, we're still a long
00:18way off of that.
00:19But we are actually, we are increasing our engagement, especially in the
00:25military and in the defense and the security areas. And perhaps when the time comes, certainly that would be something
00:37that the Philippines will be very, very open to.
00:40I cannot see any disadvantage to that. With the volatility that is happening in the geopolitical world right now,
00:53the best path to stability is to have partnerships, is to have a wide base of alliances.
01:03Because not any one country can now influence or change or direct the way the world is working.
01:13And so we have to achieve two almost contrary aspirations. One is to be stable and strong and two, to
01:26be agile at the same time.
01:28It's not an easy trick, but it's something that we have to achieve. But multilateralism is a very, very important
01:34part of that.
01:38The world is so deeply interconnected, as we have always seen when COVID, I think, was the first illustration of
01:46that in a very real sense.
01:47How quickly the world will react or will begin to stutter and sputter when there is a problem such as
02:00that.
02:00So yes, if the VFA, if we came to an agreement and we feel that it is time to have
02:08it, the Philippines would certainly entertain that possibility very warmly.
