His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah receives Philippine Secretary of National Defence Delfin N. Lorenzana. Accompanying the Secretary are Ambassador-designate Marian Jocelyn R. Tirol-Ignacio, Assistant Secretary Teodoro Torralba III and Senior Military Assistant Commodore Ruben Fajardo Jr.. Photo credit: Borneo Bulletin
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin N. Lorenzana arrived on Monday for a three-day official visit to the Sultanate to reaffirm and move forward bilateral defense relations with Brunei Darussalam.
“Defence cooperation is one of the pillars of Philippines-Brunei relations and I am pleased that it is advancing significantly in several areas. It is important that our defence officials work closely together in addressing the fast-evolving security challenges affecting the Southeast Asian region and the world,” said Lorenzana.
Secretary Lorenzana was received in Royal Audience by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, and he thanked His Majesty for the active involvement of Brunei Darussalam in the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the International Decommissioning Body (IDB) in the Philippines. He also apprised His Majesty of the peace gains achieved by the Philippines in Mindanao and the positive effects of the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019.
The IMT and IDB were established to move forward the peace process in Mindanao. Brunei Darussalam currently has 8 personnel from the Royal Brunei Land Forces (RBLF) and 1 personnel from the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) deployed in Mindanao as part of the 17th IMT while 4 RBLF personnel are participating in the 3rd IDB.
Secretary Lorenzana was accorded arrival honors at the Ministry of Defense yesterday prior to his courtesy call on Minister of Defence II Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof.
In a bilateral meeting, the defence ministers identified key initiatives for bolstering the close defense relations between the Philippines and Brunei. They revisited key milestones in the defence relations of the two countries highlighted by the formal signing of the MOU on Defence Cooperation in 2001, and discussed defence cooperation in the context of ASEAN. Secretary Lorenzana and Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Halbi also committed to further expand interaction among defence officials and personnel through exchanges and training.
Secretary Lorenzana also met with students of the Defence Academy RBAF where he delivered a talk titled “Challenges to Defence Leadership in a Fast-Changing and Dynamic Security Environment”. A Filipino is enrolled in the Command and Staff Course of the Defence Academy.
Another highlight of Secretary Lorenzana’s program was a visit to the Canadian Aviation Electronics Brunei Mutli-Purpose Training Centre (CAE-BMPTC). The facility was the venue for the S-70i Black Hawk flight simulator training undertaken by eleven (11) Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots last year with the support of the Royal Brunei Air Force. Another batch of PAF pilots are expected to train in Brunei this when the training program resumes in July.
The official visit to Brunei Darussalam of Secretary Lorenzana formally ends today. END
Philippine Secretary of National Defence Delfin N. Lorenzana and Minister of Defence II Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof after the Guard of Honor ceremonies at the Ministry of Defence (top photo) and during the brief meeting between the two Minsters (bottom photo) 