The United States is providing $500 million (P29.2 billion) in military assistance to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin III announced on Tuesday following the 2+2 meeting with their Filipino counterparts at Camp Aguinaldo.
“We are 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,” Blinken said at a press briefing, adding that Washington’s relationship with Manila “is the strongest that it has ever been.”
The assistance, according to him, is “a once-in-a-generation investment to help modernise” the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard, the US foreign secretary said.
According to Austin, “this level of funding is unprecedented” and “sends a clear message of support for the Philippines” from the United States.
“We are working with the US Congress to allocate $500 million in foreign military financing into the Philippines,” Austin said.
Edca funding
He added that US President Joe Biden had included in this year’s budget “more than $128” million to fund important infrastructure projects under Washington’s Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with Manila.
Austin said the United States was committed to “double our investments” for the Edca sites agreed with the Philippines under the 2014 agreement.
Under Edca, the United States is allowed to operate and enhance military facilities in the Philippines with the approval of its government.
In April last year, Malacañang named Camilo Osias Naval Base in Sta. Ana town and Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo town in Cagayan province; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela province; and Balabac, the southernmost island in Palawan province, as the four additional Edca sites.
The other Edca sites are at Basa Air Base in Pampanga province, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, and Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.
‘Deterrent posture’
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the US funding, including those for Edca, would “serve to secure the Philippines’ credible deterrent posture” against “unlawful foreign aggression.”
“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 in the same press briefing together with his American counterpart, Austin, and Blinken.
He said the “investments” would not only be for defence but also for civil defence purposes such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The Edca sites would also serve as venues for joint cooperation and interoperability between the United States and the Philippines and multilateral exercises with like-minded nations, Teodoro said.
“So these are not monodimensional but multidimensional investments that will help the development of the country and help to deter unwanted and unlawful aggression by building a credible deterrent posture,” he said.
Blinken said Manila and Washington both share concerns regarding Beijing’s “escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and elsewhere.”
“We stand by our ironclad defense commitment to the Philippines under [our] mutual defense treaty. That extends to armed attacks on Filipino Armed Forces, public vessels or aircraft, including the Coast Guard, anywhere in the Pacific, including the South China Sea,” he said.
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