Philippine Undersecretaries Jointly Call on Minister for Defence

Philippine Undersecretary of National Defense Cardozo Luna (right) and Undersecretary for Defense Operations Cesar Yano (left) calling on Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen (middle) at the Ministry of Defence this afternoon.

Philippine Undersecretary of National Defense Cardozo Luna and Undersecretary for Defense Operations Cesar Yano jointly called on Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the Ministry of Defence this afternoon. Both Undersecretaries are in Singapore to attend in the 2018 Southeast Asia (SEA) Counter-terrorism (CT) Symposium, organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

During their meeting, both sides reaffirmed the warm and friendly defence relations between Singapore and the Philippines. They discussed the long-term nature of the terrorist threat in the region, as well as the need for both countries to remain vigilant and sustain CT cooperation efforts. Dr Ng also expressed his appreciation to Undersecretary Luna for delivering the keynote speech at the SEA CT Symposium.

Undersecretary Luna will also visit the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF)’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Command on 5 October 2018, where he will be briefed on the operational roles and capabilities of the RSAF’s UAVs.

Both countries’ armed forces interact regularly through visits, professional exchanges, cross-attendance of courses, and multilateral exercises such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus Maritime Security and Counter-Terrorism Exercise in May 2016 and Exercise Coordinated Response in January 2017.