PA, Royal Brunei Land Forces agree to expand bilateral cooperation

November 14, 2019

The Philippine Army (PA) and Royal Brunei Land Forces (RBLF) signed the Terms of Reference (TOR) that will expand bilateral cooperation of the two armies.

Col. Patricio Ruben Amata, acting public affairs chief of the Philippine Army,  said the TOR was signed by Brig. Gen. Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Khairul Hamed Bin Awang Haji Lampoh and Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto in Taguig City on Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Khairul Hamed Bin Awang Haji Lampoh was invited by Alberto for the signing of the TOR, effectively implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation between Philippines and Brunei signed on Aug. 22, 2001, Amata said.

"The TOR serves as the guideline as well as the rules of procedure for future activities between the PA and RBLF as it embarks on having a deeper partnership," he added.

Amata said during the visit Khairul expressed his gratitude for the Philippine Army’s invitation as he stressed the importance of the event.

“This is a historical visit and moment that will expand the relationship between our armies,”  said Khairul.

On the other hand, Alberto said there are a lot of things the PA is looking forward to do with the RBLF. 

“We continue to improve our ties with international counterparts to establish a stronger regional security through cooperation," said Alberto. 

"The Royal Brunei Land Forces as our partner is among our priorities when it comes to that.” addadded.

Amata said "the two armies intend to conduct working group meetings, training courses, bilateral training, exchange of visits, subject matter expert exchanges, and intelligence exchanges." 

He said "in previous years, the PA and RBLF was (only) limited to student exchange programs for its personnel."

Amata said "Brunei is among the ASEAN states in which the Philippines had an MOU on Defense Cooperation with. Australia, Canada, Russia, Spain, UK, Israel, and the USA are also Philippine defense partners." Robina Asido/DMS