US DEFENSE Secretary Lloyd Austin is in the country to discuss various security issues with President Marcos Jr, Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr, and other Philippine officials.
Austin is set to meet with the President in Malacañang this morning, according to the Presidential Communications Office. He will meet with Galvez in Camp Aguinaldo before noon today.
He arrived in the country on Tuesday night and flew yesterday to Zamboanga City where he met with Philippine and US troops.
“Wheels down in the Philippines where I’ll meet with Secretary of National Defense Galvez and other senior leaders to build on our strong bilateral relationship, discuss a range of security initiatives, and advance our shared vision of a free and open Pacific,” Austin said in his Twitter account when he arrived on Tuesday night.
Before noon yesterday, Austin flew to Zamboanga City primarily to visit members of the US Special Operations Team based inside Camp Navarro, headquarters of the AFP Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).
Top Philippine military officials, led by AFP chief Gen. Andres Centino, Westmincom chief Maj. Gen. Roy Galido, and Navy chief Vice Adm. Toribio Adaci welcomed Austin upon arrival in the city at around 11:30 a.m.
Galido said Austin’s visit lasted for just about an hour, half of which he spent meeting with Philippine military officials and the other half talking to US troops.
“He visited US troops here, he is making sure they are okay,” said Galido.
Galido said the Philippine military’s relationship with the US is “very strong.”
“They are here to help us in our mission, especially counter-terrorism and HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster response). That’s the emphasis,” Galido said.
“But the primary (objective) is visiting their troops here in Mindanao,” he added.
EDCA
Austin and Galvez will face the media after their meeting today.
This is Austin’s second visit to the Philippines as defense secretary. The first was in July 2021 when he met with then Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
After the meeting, Lorenzana announced that then President Duterte has decided to recall a notice the Philippine government sent to US to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement which provides legal cover for the conduct of joint military exercises, including “Balikatan,” between the two armed forces.
The US defense department earlier said Austin will also meet with the President, Centino, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo during his visit to the Philippines.
It said Austin will discuss the acceleration of the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) which allows the US to preposition troops and assets in the Philippines.
US officials have requested the Philippine military to allow the construction of US facilities in five sites in four provinces — Cagayan, Zambales, Palawan and Isabela.
The five are on top of five areas approved by Philippine authorities several years ago — Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.
“There’s a push for another four or five of these EDCA sites,” a senior Philippine official said. “We are going to have definitely an announcement of some sort. I just don’t know how many would be the final outcome of that.”
The official declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
EMERGING THREATS
The US defense department has also said the US and Philippine sides are looking to further improve the alliance between the two countries to address “new and emerging threats,” including those in the South China Sea.
The US and the Philippines signed a defense treaty in 1951. The treaty requires both nations to respond to any armed attack in metropolitan territory of either party or on the island territories or on armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.
Washington is eager to extend its security options in the Philippines as part of efforts to deter any move by China against self-ruled Taiwan, while Manila wants to bolster defense of its territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippine official said increased US access needed to benefit both countries.
“We don’t want it to be directed to just for the use of the United States purely for their defense capabilities … it has to be mutually beneficial,” he said.
“And obviously, we want to make sure that no country will see … anything that we’re doing … was directed towards any conflict or anything of that sort,” he added.
Manila’s priorities in its agreements with Washington were to boost its defense capabilities and interoperability with US forces and to improve its ability to cope with climate change and natural disasters, the official said.
He said that after cancelling an agreement for the purchase of heavy-lift helicopters from Russia last year, Manila had reached a deal with Washington to upgrade “a couple” of Black Hawk helicopters that could be used for disaster relief.
“The deal with Russia was very attractive because for a certain budget we were able to get something like 16 of these heavy-lift helicopters,” the official said. “Now with the United States, obviously their helicopters are more expensive, so we’re looking at how we can fit in the budget that we’ve had.”
Gregory Poling, a Southeast Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said access to sites in northern Luzon would help US efforts to deter any Chinese move against Taiwan by putting the waters to the south of the island within range of shore-based missiles.
He said US and Philippine marines were pursuing similar capabilities with ground-based rockets, with Manila’s particular interest being to protect its South China Sea claims.
The Philippines is among several countries at odds with China in the South China Sea and has been angered by the constant presence of vessels in its exclusive economic zone it says are manned by Chinese militia. China is also Manila’s main trading partner. — With Reuters
