Longstanding defence ties between the Philippines and the U.S., which have blossomed in recent years as China grows its military might and grows increasingly aggressive in the Asia Pacific region, have received a further fillip with Washington committing US $500M to modernise the Philippine military and the Coast Guard.
The funding, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described as a “once in a generation investment,” will likely act as a catalyst for Manila’s military modernization program that has run into a series of challenges over the last few years. According to reports, the US$500 million in Foreign Military Financing will be guided by a bilateral working group and the Philippines-Security Sector Assistance Roadmap. With tensions rising in the South China Sea, the Philippine navy is looking to enhance its maritime capabilities; unmanned systems and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for maritime domain awareness are on the service’s priority list. The Philippines are also keen on adding more warships and new fighter jets.
During the fourth Philippine-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in July this year, U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Tony Blinken met with Secretary of National Defence Gilbert Teodoro and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo discussed ways to further improve defence ties between the two countries. In 2012, the U.S. and the Philippine government signed an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that allows Pentagon access to key Philippine navy sites to train and operate with the Philippine military. The U.S. plans to double its investment in military bases across the Philippines, with US$128 million set aside in the budgetary request this year for the nine sites cleared to host U.S. troops and American-funded projects.
The Philippines, which is Washington’s oldest ally in the region, is a key element of the U.S. strategy that involves knitting together a network of friendly nations to counter China, which claims the entire South China Sea as its territory and is threatening to invade Taiwan. The funding to modernise the Philippine military is reportedly a major component of a US$2 billion package that the Biden administration plans to offer countries in the region to improve their military capabilities. Taiwan will be the major beneficiary with US$1.2 billion while Vietnam and other U.S. allies are likely to share about US$300 million.
The U.S. decision to help Manila speed up the modernisation of its military is in the wake of an increase in tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. In June this year, a Philippine sailor was injured when Chinese forces blocked an Armed Forces of the Philippines resupply mission in the South China Sea. A Philippine Coast Guard vessel also suffered damage. China has not been coy about its plans to extend its military reach in the region; in April this year, more than 230 Chinese vessels were reportedly spotted in the West Philippine Sea, the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The substantial increase in military aid, up from US $40 million in 2023, is a clear signal that Washington wants Manila to be adequately equipped to handle Chinese aggression.
In recent times, the Pentagon has been keen on ensuring that U.S. military presence in the Philippines is more conspicuous than ever. The Typhoon system, a U.S. Army missile system that can launch modified Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles to strike targets beyond the range of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), was brought in to the Philippines country for joint exercises earlier this year. The system is capable of striking Chinese targets as long as it remains in the Philippines, and reports indicate that the U.S. will not immediately withdraw the system and plans to use it as a deterrent against Chinese aggression. The U.S. Marine Corps is deploying Reaper drones at Basa Air Base while U.S. Army drones have been operating out of Edwin Andrews Air Base.
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