WIRE — MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday called for increasing the Philippines' defense spending to as much as 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), saying the country needs to build a stronger military to deter external threats as tensions with China persist in the West Philippine Sea. Speaking to reporters on
"We aggregate wires to encourage regional discovery, sending readers directly back to the original source to explore full coverage."
This is a normalized overview of the breaking feed event. The complete, official release detailing all points, background context, and statements remains hosted by the original publisher.