MANILA, Philippines - A military agreement with Thailand is currently in the works and may be approved soon, a Philippine military spokesman said Tuesday.

Armed Forces public office chief Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said AFP Chief Gen. Alexander Yano discussed this during Tuesday’s courtesy call of Royal Thai Armed Forces Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niumpradit at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Thailand will pave the way for the conduct of military exercises between the two countries.

“He (Yano) said that the agreement is expected to be approved soon,” Torres said.

Torres said a draft of the SOFA with Thailand has been finalized since April 2006, but the proposal has yet to be approved by the concerned Filipino authorities.

Torres did not say who are supposed to give the approval.

“He mentioned it (approval of the SOFA). We hope that it will be approved soon so that at least we can strengthen our defense cooperation (with Thailand),” Torres said.

He added that SOFA would be similar to the Status of Visiting Force Agreement the government had signed with Australia last year.

Similar agreements are also in the works with other countries, including Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. - GMANews.TV