While it is struggling to upgrade its own capability, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday offered assistance to fledgling Southeast Asian neighbor Timor Leste to build up its military capability.
AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said that AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Jessie Dellosa made the offer to Maj. Gen. Lere Anan Timur, chief of the Timor Leste Defense Force (F-FDTL) during the latter’s official visit to Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.
“Since East Timor is a very young nation with a newly-organized defense force, the Armed Forces of the Philippines offered its assistance in building their military capability,” said Burgos.
Burgos, however, added that there is a need for the AFP and the F-FDTL to sign a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation to pave the way for more military-to-military engagements between the Philippines and Timor Leste.
Burgos stressed that the defense cooperation would be focused more on “education and training as well as institution-building.”
Aside from Dellosa, Timur also met with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. The visiting military official also went to the AFP Medical Center, the National Defense College of the Philippines and the Command and General Staff College.
Timur will also be meeting with Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama, Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino dela Cruz, Northern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, Army Training and Doctrines commander Maj. Gen. Joel Ibanez and Army Light Armor Division chief Maj. Gen. Carlos Luces during his five-day visit.
Timor Leste gained its independence in 2002. During its transition, then Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos served as force commander of the United Nations-led Transitional Administration in East Timor. He was the first Filipino to head a UN peacekeeping force.
Currently, the AFP is also undergoing its own billions-worth of modernization and capability upgrade program.