President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed openness to continue joint military exercises between Philippine and Australian forces.

This was mentioned by Marcos in an interview following the "first amphibious operation of the Indo Pacific Endeavor 2023" dubbed as "Exercise Alon" in Zambales on Friday.

Marcos said the continuation of joint military exercises between the two countries will surely be discussed during his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese early next month.

"Well, I think we would be discussing for sure, also the continuation of this kind of joint exercise to increase the capabilities again of our... You know if the coordination is good, especially with the military, the multiplier effect is big, that is why it is important that we continue that," he said.

"That’s certainly going to be part of the discussion that I will be having with the Prime Minister when he comes, Prime Minister Albanese when he comes to visit us here in the Philippines,'' said Marcos.

Marcos noted that defense and security aspects will only be "one part of many things" that they will discuss.

"I’m sure that we will come up with some new strategies and some new ideas, agreements, and in terms of partnerships between our two countries. And of course, the security and defense which are going to be part of that, but that will be one part of many things that we will be discussing," he said.

"We have many common concerns with Australia in terms of the region and of course, we also have very many Filipino nationals in Australia. And I was reminding the Ambassador, not only do we have a large contingent of Filipinos in Australia, we have a large happy contingent --- living in Australia, Filipinos who have chosen to live and work in Australia and they have been welcomed as part of the society, welcomed into the work force and for that we have to be grateful to our Australian friends," he added. Robina Asido/DMS