The highest-ranking official in the United States military has met with the top Philippine defense and military officials to discuss ways to further boost the defense cooperation between the two nations.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Dan Caine on Wednesday separately met with Department of Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Romeo Brawner Jr. during a courtesy call in Camp Aguinaldo.

In a statement on Thursday, the AFP said Caine and Brawner “explored avenues to strengthen cooperation and further operationalize their shared strategic defense objectives.”

Brawner expressed the Philippines’ gratitude for the US’s support in humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations during periods of calamities.

Meanwhile, Caine and Teodoro discussed the “progress of the alliance and explored ways to further operationalize bilateral strategic defense objectives,” a DND statement said on Wednesday.

“Among the topics covered were operationalizing multilateral cooperation with regional partners, expanding cooperation and information sharing to deepen interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and US military forces, and exploring ways to enhance Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) efforts in view of Typhoon Tino,” it added. (PNA)