Philippines open to VFA with Germany
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is open to a visiting forces agreement with Germany, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday, June 16, signaling Manila's intent to expand defense pacts beyond its traditional treaty allies.
"Why not?" Marcos told reporters after meeting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Malacañang.
"We're still a long way off of that. But we are actually increasing our engagements, especially in the military and in the defense and security areas," he said.
There are no immediate plans for a VFA, Marcos said, but the Philippines is willing to study and pursue any deal once both governments reach a decision.
"With the volatility that is happening in the geopolitical world right now, the best path to stability is to have partnerships, to have a wide base of alliances," he said. "Because not any one country can now influence or change or direct the way the world is working."
Steinmeier is on a June 15-17 state visit, the first by a German head of state since then-President Heinrich Lübke came to Manila in 1963.
The two leaders' bilateral talks covered defense, peacebuilding, maritime cooperation, trade and investment, climate change, renewable energy and people-to-people exchanges, the Presidential Communications Office said.
They also discussed the Philippines' chairship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Marcos visited Berlin in March 2024 and met then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations, which were established on October 8, 1954.
Germany was the Philippines' 12th-largest trading partner in 2025, with bilateral trade of $5.39 billion, and its 7th-largest export market at $3.35 billion.
At least 40 German-affiliated companies operate in the country, including Lufthansa Technik, Bayer, Merck, Boehringer Ingelheim and Linde.
Berlin is the 9th-largest source of official development assistance to Manila and has provided $46.95 million as of September 2025.
About 45,827 Filipinos live in Germany.
Nurses and nursing associates accounted for more than 80 percent of Filipinos deployed there in 2024, according to the Department of Migrant Workers.
A VFA with Berlin would add to the fast-growing list of agreements under Marcos as his administration continues to pursue defense partnerships beyond the United States amid confrontations with Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines has visiting forces agreements with the United States (1998), Australia (2007), Japan (2024), New Zealand (April 2025), Canada (November 2025) and France, which became the first European country to sign such a pact with Manila in March 2026.
Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro Jr. and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius signed a defense cooperation deal in Berlin on May 14, 2025, covering cybersecurity, defense armaments and logistics, and UN peacekeeping.
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