The United States has announced that it will provide $500m in military funding to the Philippines, aimed at boosting security collaboration.
The announced funding is part of a $2bn facility for foreign military financing that was approved by the US in April.
The announcement came as US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin held “2+2” talks with their Philippine counterparts; Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro in Manila.
The two officials launched an Asia Pacific tour over the weekend, aimed at boosting Washington’s influence in the region in a bid to challenge the “strategic challenge” Beijing poses.
Speaking at a news conference alongside Manila’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Blinken described the aid as a “once in a generation investment” to help modernise the Philippine armed forces and coastguard.
“We’re building on a lot of progress the Philippines has already made to be better positioned to defend their sovereignty. That is what this is about.”
Antony Blinken
Lloyd Austin said that the funds demonstrate the commitment of the US to take “bold steps to strengthen our alliance”.
“We are here to build on an extraordinary foundation. We are working to advance our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he declared.
He added, “This level of funding is unprecedented.”
On his part, Teodoro called the aid a “tremendous boost” to Manila’s defence capabilities.
Teodoro stated the US funds would be used to help secure the Philippines’ “credible deterrent posture”, as it seeks to boost its cybersecurity capabilities among other things.
Manalo expressed that the Philippines welcomes the “iron-clad commitment” shown by the US to the pair’s alliance.
Moreover, Blinken emphasized that any possible change in the US leadership following the upcoming presidential election will not affect the country’s commitments to the Philippines.
Blinken, Lloyd Meet President Marcos Jr
Ahead of meetings with their Filipino counterparts, Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro, Blinken and Austin met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
According to U.S State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken and Austin discussed with Marcos “their shared commitment to upholding international law in the South China Sea”, with the US officials reiterating the US’s “ironclad commitments to the Philippines” under the two countries’ Mutual Defence Treaty.
Marcos greeted Blinken and Austin at the Malacanang Palace.
“I’m always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here, in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific, are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses.”
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Blinken said that the talks were evidence of “a steady drum beat, a very high level of engagements between our countries.”
“We are truly grateful for this partnership,” Blinken told Marcos.
The West Philippine Sea is the term used by Manila to refer to the area in the South China Sea in which a series of escalating confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels has taken place over recent months.
Beijing lays claim to nearly all of the strategically located waterway. It has built artificial islands, fully equipped with military-type landing strips and shipping ports, and recently enacted new regulations permitting its coastguard to use lethal force against foreign ships in the waters it claims.
The Chinese claim overlaps with the competing claims of several neighbouring ASEAN countries, including Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as the Philippines.
Amid the tension, Manila has begun modernising its armed forces which is one of the weakest in Asia and bolstering its coastguard.
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