MANILA – A memorandum of understanding (MOU) for an initial PHP1.26 billion dual-use drone facility in the Casiguran, Aurora-based freeport zone has been signed by officials of Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) and Anglicotech Philippines Inc.
APECO, in a news release Thursday, said the MOU was signed by APECO President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Undersecretary Gil Taway IV and Anglicotech CEO David Cooper at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., last Oct. 29 as part of the investment promotion agency’s outbound mission to the United States on Oct. 24-30.
It said the facility of the Virginia-based defense logistics company is targeted to be a “Center of Excellence for aerial and maritime drones, built in phases on an indicative five-hectare site.”
The initial phase focuses on testing and evaluating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and maritime drones, alongside training remote pilots and operators.
Succeeding phases are envisioned to include mixed manned and unmanned operations for aircraft and vessels, as well as drone deployments for logistics, disaster response, maritime surveillance, and search-and-rescue. These phases will expand into maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services, building toward domestic drone manufacturing, systems integration, component production, and partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
“The country is building its own capacity to produce, service and operate advanced systems that serve both national security and civilian needs. APECO intends to be where that capacity takes root, and this drone hub is a building block of a strategic defense and technology hub on the Pacific seaboard,” Taway said.
Talks for the partnership started in 2024, and Cooper and Anglicotech Philippines Country Manager Edmund Rustia inspected the ecozone on Aug. 16, 2025.
The company provided logistics; command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and foreign military sales support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US Department of War.
The news release explained that the “few sites in the country combine the assets the hub needs.”
It said the ecozone’s planned airstrip “is being positioned for dual-use civil and military operations, including procedure-based mixed operations of manned and unmanned aircraft, in Aurora’s relatively uncongested airspace.”
“Its (Anglicotech Philippines Inc.) partnership with APECO positions the Pacific-facing ecozone as the next expansion hub for Anglicotech in the Philippines,” the news release read.
“Defense-related economic activities are included in the Tiers 2 and 3 of the (government’s) Strategic Investment Priority Plan to support the goals of Republic Act No. 12024, or the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) Revitalization Act.”
APECO supports this program by positioning the ecozone “as the country’s first national defense hub by attracting investments in defense-related industries, advanced technology and strategic infrastructure, in line with the Philippines’ growing focus on strengthening its defense and maritime capabilities.” (PNA)
