France and the Philippines have signed a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement allowing their militaries to conduct joint exercises on each other’s territory.
It is Manila’s first such pact with a European country. The archipelago nation signed similar agreements with Canada, Japan and New Zealand over the past two years, as it seeks to counter China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.
China’s coast guard and maritime militia frequently harass Philippine civilian and government vessels operating lawfully in the crucial waterway, which Beijing claims in nearly its entirety despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that Beijing’s assertion has no legal basis. The case was brought by the Philippines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
French Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Catherine Vautrin and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. signed the agreement in late March 2026 in Paris, where they discussed regional security challenges and reaffirmed support for a rules-based international order.
The leaders also called for “the peaceful resolution of disputes” and noted the need to strengthen supply chain resilience.
The agreement “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,” the Philippine Defense Department stated.
The French Navy has participated in drills in the South China Sea alongside Philippine and United States vessels, while its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle made its first port visit to Subic Bay, Philippines, in February 2025.
France also has been an observer at the annual Philippines-U.S. military exercise Balikatan.
The agreement’s signing came hours after the Philippine military accused China of conducting dangerous maneuvers that could have caused a collision with a Philippine vessel near Pag-asa, a tiny island about 450 kilometers from the Philippine province of Palawan, near one of Manila’s key South China Sea outposts.
“While conducting lawful operations, BRP Benguet encountered the PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy] vessel, which executed an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver by closing in and passing at a dangerously close distance,” the Philippines stated.
Video released by the Philippines showed the PLAN vessel sailing within 10 meters of the BRP Benguet.
“That’s unsafe. That’s provocative,” said Col. Nep Padua, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command. “They moved, cutting the ship in front of the bow. Normally, you do not do that — crossing at any angle.”