DND, AFP Officials Sign Bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement With Spain, Hold First Joint Defense Cooperation Meeting

The Department of National Defense (DND) Assistant Secretary for Logistics and Acquisition (ASLA) Jesus Rey R. Avilla (second from left) hands over the copy of the MOU on Logistics, Defense Material, Armaments and Defense Industry Cooperation to Director-General of Armaments and Materials of the Spanish Defense Ministry Admiral Santiago Ramón González Gómez (second from right). Also in the photo are DND Asst. Sec. Teodoro Cirilo T. Torralba III (leftmost) and his Spanish counterpart (rightmost). (Madrid PE photo)

MADRID 20 January 2020 –– Officials from the Department of Defense (DND) / Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted a successful visit to Madrid from 23 to 29 November 2019. The visit was culminated in the signing of a bilateral defense cooperation agreement between the Philippines and Spain.

The DND/AFP delegation was headed by National Defense Assistant Secretary for Assessments and International Affairs, Teodoro Cirilo T. Torralba III, and National Defense Assistant Secretary for Logistics and Acquisition, Jesus Rey R. Avilla, who led Philippine participation in the inaugural Philippines-Spain Joint Defense Cooperation Committee Meeting (JDCC), held at the Spanish Ministry of Defense on 25 November 2019.

The JDCC resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement on Logistics, Defense Materiel, Armaments, and Defense Industry Cooperation (LDMADIC), a necessary step in realizing government-to-government transactions for defense article procurement under the AFP Modernization Program.

In addition, the meeting also saw the signing of the JDCC Terms of Reference, which will serve as the implementation platform for the Philippine-Spain MOU on Defense Cooperation signed on 03 October 2011.

Lastly, under the auspices of the JDCC, the participants held the Philippine Army–Spanish Army Bilateral Exchange to strengthen the military relationship between both armed forces. END

First Meeting of the PH-Spain Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC) on 25 November 2019 at the Spanish Ministry of Defense. (Madrid PE photo)

The Philippine delegation from the Department of Defense (DND), Armed Forces fo the Philippines (AFP), and ODAFA Spain with their Spanish Defense Ministry counterparts. (Madrid PE photo)

The Department of National Defense (DND) Asst. Sec. Teodoro Cirilo T. Torralba III and Spanish Defense Ministry Brig. Gen. Alfonso García-Vaquero Pradal sign the Terms of Reference of the Philippines-Spain Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC). (Madrid PE photo)

For more information, visit  https://www.madripe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philembassymadrid.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSpain/.