Asean defense chiefs hold Manila meet

MANILA, Philippines - Defense and military chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are in the Philippines for a high-level meeting to discuss humanitarian assistance and disaster response, piracy and counterterrorism.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Año will hold discussions with his counterparts from May 17 to 19, with some preliminary talks starting yesterday.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the 2017 Chiefs of Defense Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM) is held annually with ASEAN countries taking turns hosting the event.

“It has started. General Año’s counterparts are coming to the country, the defense chiefs, the heads of ASEAN armed forces,” he told The STAR. 

“We have 10 countries in ASEAN so all those 10 chiefs will be coming to meet with their counterparts and the meeting will be hosted by the Philippines this time, through General Año. They started arriving Sunday night,” he said.

Padilla said the chiefs of operations and the chiefs of intelligence of the various armed forces of ASEAN countries would also join the meetings.

“This year, we will discuss HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster response), how we can facilitate our partnerships, how to help each other during calamities. It’s anchored on the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Center,” he said.

Padilla added that the high-level meeting will also talk about anti-piracy matters and counterterrorism, which are also the focus of the 2017 Balikatan Exercises between the United States Armed Forces and the AFP, but the ACDFIM will not involve actual command post exercises and field training exercises as it will be just discussions among high-ranking military officials of the ASEAN region.