THE United States (US) is providing the Philippines with $500 million, approximately P29.2 billion, to boost its military capabilities.
This was announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III following the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, with their Philippine counterparts, Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
“We're now allocating an additional $500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines to boost security collaboration with our oldest treaty ally in this region,” said Blinken.
“New steps to strengthen the alliance, a once-in-a-generation investment to help modernize the Filipino Armed Forces and Coast Guard,” he added.
For his part, Austin said this provision of support to the Philippine military is “unprecedented” and sends a clear message of support to the country from the administration of US President Joe Biden.
He said the first bilateral security sector assistance roadmap, which will ensure that the mutual investments of the two countries go toward the most important capabilities, was concluded during their dialogue with the two Philippine officials.
Austin said the Biden administration has requested $128 million in this year’s budget to fund important Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) infrastructure projects in the Philippines.
“[The] US Government investment in these locations extends beyond the Department of Defense. For example, USAid (United States Agency for International Development) plans to preposition disaster relief supplies at an Edca location later this year. That will allow the department to work alongside our Philippine allies to rapidly provide humanitarian assistance in times of need,” he said.
Austin noted that during the meeting, the US and the Philippines reaffirmed that the Mutual Defense Treaty remains the bedrock of their alliance.
“And let me be clear, the Mutual Defense Treaty applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, aircraft, or public vessels anywhere in the South China Sea. Together, we also discussed how to make our alliance even more secure through technology and security and cyber cooperation,” he added.
For his part, Teodoro expressed gratitude to the US, noting that its “multidimensional investments” will help the development of the country and help deter unwanted and unlawful aggression by building a credible deterrent posture.
“Every peso or dollar spent on hardening Philippine capabilities to defend itself and to deter unlawful aggression will be a plus against any threat actor whether it be China or anyone,” Teodoro said.
“The Edca investments are not only solely for defense purposes but are also for civil defense purposes like humanitarian assistance and disaster response. They can be venues for joint cooperation and interoperability between the United States and the Philippines and multilaterally with like-minded nations,” he added. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)