Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro (L) and French Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin posing with signed documents during their bilateral meeting in Paris, March 26. 2026. HANDOUT / AFP
The Philippines and France have signed an agreement opening the door for their soldiers to participate in joint exercises on each other's soil, Manila said on Friday, March 27, its first such pact with a European country. The archipelago nation has secured similar pacts with Japan, Canada and New Zealand over the past two years, as it seeks to counter Beijing's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines and China have engaged in frequent clashes in the crucial waterway, which Beijing claims in nearly its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The new "status of visiting forces agreement" with France was signed on Thursday in Paris, hours after the Philippine military accused China of conducting "dangerous maneuvers" in the contested waterway.
"The SOVFA will serve as the primary document to facilitate a wider range of defense cooperative activities between the Philippine and French armed forces in the territory of either country," Manila's defense department said in a statement. The French navy has previously taken part in joint drills in the South China Sea alongside Philippine and US vessels, while the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle made its first port visit to Subic Bay in February last year.
