Philippines, Singapore military to sign counter-terrorism agreement
The Philippines and Singaporean military are set to sign a counter-terrorism agreement during the state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Singapore next week.
After his visit in Indonesia, Marcos will proceed to Singapore where he will stay from September 6 to 7 .
During his state visit Marcos "will have separate meetings with the Singaporean President and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss the close bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as regional and global issues," said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza in a virtual press briefing on Friday,
Daza said during the state visit Marcos and Lee will also witness the signing of agreements in counter-terrorism and data privacy.
"There are two that’s being envisioned. One is the arrangement concerning the assignment of a team to the regional counter-terrorism information facility or what is called the CTIF. This will be signed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as well as the Singapore Armed Forces," she said.
"The CTIF is a multi-lateral platform for monitoring, research, and analysis of terrorist activities. By deploying a Philippine officer, the Philippines can share its experience and expertise in addressing or combatting terrorism. At the same time, gather valuable intelligence from other countries and expand our defense network. That’s the first deliverable in Singapore," she added.
Daza said the second deliverable in Singapore "is the MOU on cooperation in personal data protection which will be signed by the National Privacy Commission or NPC and the Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore."
"For this MOU, what is being envisioned is the strengthening of the digitization efforts of both countries by engendering trust in cross-border data flows and helping to protect the data privacy of, for example, the Filipinos in the digital era and encouraging greater participation in the Philippine digital economy," she said.
Daza said since Singapore is a key trade and investment partner of the Philippines, an economic briefing and business roundtable meetings will be organized where Marcos intends to invite attract investments into the Philippines and create more job opportunities in the country.
"The President will also meet with the Filipino communities in Indonesia and Singapore to personally assure them of the government’s continuing commitment to protect their rights and promote their welfare as overseas Filipinos," she said.
"The President’s back-to-back visits to Indonesia and Singapore as his inaugural overseas trip demonstrate the importance the Philippines places on the relations with our fellow ASEAN neighbors," she added. Robina Asido/DMS
