The United States announced $500 million in military funding for the Philippines on Tuesday to modernize the country’s armed forces in what Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a “once-in-a-generation investment.”
Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with their Filipino counterparts, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr., in Manila on Tuesday, where they announced new updates to the alliance. They also met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
During the meeting, the U.S. committed to allocating $500 million in foreign military financing from the fiscal 2024 Indo-Pacific security supplemental to establish a Roles, Missions, Capabilities Working Group and implement the Philippines-Security Sector Assistance Roadmap, which outlines the jointly determined priority capability requirements of the Philippines Armed Forces, among other things.
“This level of funding is unprecedented, and it sends a clear message of support for the Philippines from the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Congress, and the American people,” Austin said.
Blinken added, “Both of us share concerns — and many other countries in the region share concerns as well — about some of the actions that the People’s Republic of China has taken, escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and elsewhere.”
Both U.S. secretaries were in Japan earlier in the week, where they met with Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Tokyo on Sunday. Austin and Kihara met with the South Korean defense minister for a trilateral ministerial meeting, which was held for the first time in Japan.
Austin described this new pact of U.S. allies in the Pacific region as a “new convergence” of “likeminded allies and partners.”
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Ahead of the trip, the defense secretary told reporters, “Our ties with Australia and India are stronger than ever. We’ve improved our relationships with Vietnam, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and many more.”
The Pentagon considers the Chinese Communist Party the biggest threat to the international rules-based order and has characterized them as the U.S.’s “pacing threat.” In the last several years, China’s military has frequently clashed with the Philippines and other Pacific countries regarding Beijing’s claims of sovereignty around the region.