Duterte meets Australian intelligence official

August 22, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte met on Tuesday with Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) director general Nicholas Peter Warner in Malacanang, where regional security issues were tackled.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the meeting between Duterte and Warner, a former secretary of the Australian Department of Defence, went smoothly as they two officials agreed to work on areas of “mutual respect”.

“It was basically a courtesy call that touched on regional security issues and declaration of mutual support,” Abella said.

The Palace did not state if the two officials touched further on the Philippines and Australia Special Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA), a visiting forces agreement signed in Canberra, Australia on May 31, 2007 that was ratified in 2012 by the Senate. DMS