AKIPRESS.COM - The Philippines and the United States signed an agreement to allow a bigger U.S. military presence on Filipino territory, Channel News Asia reported.

Philippine Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin and U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg signed the 10-year pact, which is seen as another element of Obama's effort to focus U.S. military and economic attention more heavily on Asia.

Obama said the deal would see more U.S. troops rotate through the Philippines for joint military training exercises, but emphasized there would be no return of permanent American bases.

The deal announced on Monday is only a framework agreement, with the details – such as how many U.S. troops will rotate through the Philippines and when – to be negotiated and announced later.

The Philippines had been eager for an agreement to expand the arrangement to boost its weak military capabilities and emphasize its close ties to the United States, at a time of deep tensions with China over competing claims to parts of the South China Sea.

China claims most of the South China Sea, even waters close to the Philippines and other countries in the region. Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as Taiwan, also have overlapping claims to the sea.

Filipino officials have previously said the deal would also allow the United States to store equipment that could be used to mobilize American forces faster – particularly in cases of natural disasters.

The Philippines hosted two of the largest overseas U.S. military bases until 1992, when the Filipino Senate voted to end their lease amid growing anti-U.S. sentiment.