The International Coalition on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)- Germany expressed deep concern about the signing of an arrangement on defense cooperation between the Philippines and Germany on May 14, 2025 in Berlin.
After the signing, Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and German Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will convene the 3rd Philippines-Germany Security and Defense Staff Talks to review and concretize proposed joint activities and initiatives to be implemented under the said arrangement in the coming year.
This came in the heels of Balikatan 2025, the biggest joint military exercise of the U.S. and Filipino troops featuring “full battle test” scenarios. The joint drills started on April 21 and ended on May 9. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and U.S. military troops participated alongside forces from the Australian Defence Force and, for the first time, the Japan Self-Defense Force. Additionally, 16 nations took part in the AFP-hosted international observer program, including among others, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, and United Kingdom.
On April 14, 2025 another US military unit was formally stationed in Philippine territory -- the . US 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR) which made its “debut” in the Balikatan 2025 as the Littoral Rotational Force-Luzon (LRF-Luzon). Advanced missile systems were deployed in the Philippines. In addition, the US has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines.
ICHRP - Germany warns that “these developments escalate tensions as China conducts a series of military exercises around Taiwan and intensified its ‘gray zone’ tactics in the contested West Philippine Sea. A miscalculation can trigger a hot war not only in the Indo-Pacific area, but probably another global war.”
Increasingly, the US has been pressuring the European Union (EU) including Germany and other allies to join in its design of containing the geopolitical expansion of China and to retain US sole hegemony in the world.
In a related development, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Manalo disclosed on April 10, that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have agreed to complete a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea by 2026.
ICHRP-Germany, together with ALPAS Pilipinas, Gabriela - Germany and Friends of the Filipinos in Struggle (FFPS) declared that “it is in the best interest of the Filipino people and the German people to seek peaceful resolution of conflicts instead of war.”