Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, together with Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Senate Majority Leader Francis “Tol” Tolentino, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senator Imee Marcos, recently received the Czech Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová and other officials at the Senate Ceremonial Hall.
Officials from both the Philippines and the Czech Republic discussed how to further strengthen various areas of cooperation between the two countries which include trade, defense and security, people-to-people and inter-parliamentary exchanges, among others.
The Senate President recognized the Czech government’s support to the arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea.
The Czech Speaker reiterated the importance of forging strong alliances with like-minded countries to ensure peace and security in the region.
The Czech officials also offered their expertise in the fields of film and animation and in the area of cybersecurity.
The Philippine Senators highlighted the recent signing of the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act which now opens more avenues of cooperation in defense between the two countries as the Philippines aims to become a regional defense manufacturing hub in Asia.
This will also provide for the Czech Republic to proceed with their transfer of technology program of Czech firearms and aircraft manufacturers.
