A new bilateral mutual defense agreement between the US and the government of the Philippines signals the importance of the Philippine Islands to the security of the South China Sea and the safety of Taiwan. The new and better relationship between the US and the Philippines came after years of strained relations under former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte took a position in the region that if he tried to make nice with China, Beijing would make nice with Manila. “Relations deteriorated under Mr. Duterte, who turned closer to China and at home…Mr. Duterte threatened to push back against the US military presence, though he ultimately took no action,” Isabella Kwai, wrote in The New York Times recently. Duterte’s point of view proved ineffective and unwise. China tried to establish a stronger hold in the South China Sea, including taking control of a host of small islands and coral outcroppings. But the Philippines disputes those claims and has taken exception to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) building military installations and airfields on the disputed islands and reefs.
Philippines Armed Forces Consistently Harassed
Additionally, the People’s Liberation Army Navy has persistently harassed Filipino navy patrol boats and fishing craft in international waters. In an April 29 press statement, the US Department of State explained: “Imagery and video recently published in the media is a stark reminder of PRC harassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels as they undertake routine patrols within their exclusive economic zone. We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct.” More explicitly, the statement continued:
“The United States stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms that an armed attack in the Pacific, which includes the South China Sea, on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard, would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.”
Biden’s national security team’s uncharacteristically strong statement underscores the mutually beneficial partnership the Philippines and the US enjoy. Recently President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., who replaced Duterte after the May 2022 Philippine election, has taken significant steps to re-establish stronger bonds with America. “On May 3, 2023, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Philippine Secretary of the Department of National Defense Carlito Galvez established the Bilateral Defense Guidelines to modernize alliance cooperation in service of the United States and the Philippines’ shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” a Pentagon press release stated.
The agreement came as the Philippine government permitted the US to use on a rotational basis four additional military installations on the Philippine Islands. Two of the bases, Camilo Osias Naval Base and Cagayan North International Airport, are on the northern tip of Luzon Island, 270 miles from the southern end of Taiwan and roughly 470 miles from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan in the North. Having the ability to establish and defend a perimeter around Taiwan with short air distances for US air superiority fighters adds to the Philippines’ Indo-Pacific strategic value. Additionally, they provide staging capability for weapons, equipment, and supplies should the PRC attack Taiwan.
Participation in Combined Exercises Cements a Strong Relationship
Defense Minister of Philippines Carlito Galvez and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
To reinforce the Philippine-US defense cooperation, the two militaries have participated in combined exercises and training to build mutual confidence and ensure interoperability in tactics, techniques, and procedures. This past April, Liberty Nation reported: “In addition to combat arms training, the 38th iteration of the annual combined exercise will include 12,200 US military, 5,400 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and 111 Australians.”
To take advantage of the Philippines’ position in the Indo-Pacific security strategy, Japan will join the US and the Philippines with Australia as an observer in a first ever maritime exercise to address growing concerns regarding China’s threatening behavior in the region. “The coast guards of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines will hold trilateral maritime exercises in the South China Sea this week (1-7 June), the first such maneuvers between them as a time of growing concern about China’s moves in the region,” Reuters explained.
The Philippines’ strategic value and the Filipino military’s willingness to participate with other regional partners to address the dangers posed by China’s persistent bellicose behavior is encouraging. The Philippines and the US have the longest existing mutual defense agreement in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should get the message that the US can coalesce allies and friends to establish an effective defense against Chinese aggression. More important, the Philippines is geographically key to defending Taiwan.
