MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): The Philippines is continuously assessing the newly formed Australia-United Kingdom-United States (Aukus) alliance, which it believes will "restore and keep the balance" in the Indo-Pacific region, a senior foreign affairs official said in a recent meeting of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean).
In a statement on Wednesday (Oct 6), the Department of Foreign Affairs said that Acting Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and Asean Affairs Theresa Lazaro echoed the earlier statement of Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr that the Philippines "sees value in the enhancement of a neighbour's capability to project power".