On March 26, the Philippines and France signed a status of visiting forces agreement, allowing their militaries to deploy personnel in each other's territories for joint training, exercises and operations, The Philippine Star reported the next day. The agreement makes France the first European country to secure such an arrangement with Manila.

Negotiations between the two countries had been underway since 2023, indicating a deliberate, years-long effort to institutionalize bilateral defense ties rather than a reactive response to more recent global developments. The agreement follows a steady expansion of Philippine defense partnerships in recent years, with Manila complementing its alliance with the United States and 2012 visiting forces agreement with Australia by adding similar agreements with Japan (2024), New Zealand (2025) and Canada (2025).