Chief Pentagon Spokesman, Sean Parnell, provided the following readout:
On October 31, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, Jr., to reaffirm their ironclad commitment to the U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty. The two leaders shared their determination to reestablish deterrence in the region. This was the fourth meeting between Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Teodoro this year, demonstrating the close and continuing partnership between the two allies.
The two leaders discussed several developments to strengthen bilateral cooperation and increase readiness. Secretary Hegseth announced the establishment of Task Force-Philippines, a new U.S. Joint Task Force that will increase operational cooperation, improve combined planning, and enhance interoperability, particularly in the South China Sea. The secretaries also announced the completion of an action plan to modernize the defense partnership and accelerate progress on major priorities over the next two years.
During the meeting, Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Teodoro reaffirmed the importance of defense industrial cooperation for advancing shared security interests. The leaders acknowledged progress in public-private partnership on munitions co-production, building on the priorities in the defense industrial cooperation vision statement that the secretaries released in Manila in March.