Manila, Sept. 10 -- The proposed visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and France is expected to widen the country's defense reach in the Indo-Pacific by linking Manila with a European state that also has territories, citizens, and military presence in the region, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told senators on Thursday.

"France is not only a European country, but it is also a Pacific country because it has territories in the Pacific Ocean - New Caledonia, Tahiti, and the others," Teodoro said during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing.

Teodoro said France, as a maritime country, shares the Philippines' interest in freedom of navigation and in upholding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Se...