US agrees £389m military funding for Philippines defence forces

Washington’s top diplomat and defence chief announced 500 million US dollars (£389 million) in new military funding on Tuesday to boost the Philippines’ external defence and progress on a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact as both allies renewed their concerns over China’s continuing aggressive actions in the region.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has fortified Manila’s decades-old treaty alliance with Washington as hostilities between Philippine and Chinese forces flared since last year in the disputed South China Sea.

Mr Marcos hailed “very open” communication lines between Washington and Manila, adding that the two countries’ treaty alliance and key issues in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region “are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses”.

Mr Marcos has underscored the need for a US military presence for Asian stability and peace.

“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,” including “coercive methods,” Mr Blinken said in a joint news conference.

He and Mr Austin renewed a warning that the US would help defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea.

“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,” Philippine defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro said.

The visit came the week after the Philippines and China reached a temporary arrangement to prevent clashes around the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal like the violent face-off between their forces on June 17.

The US, along with Japan, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and Singapore, have welcomed the arrangement to de-escalate tensions, Philippine foreign secretary Enrique Manalo said.

The 500 million US dollars (£389 million) in military financing would include funding for reinforcing the Philippine navy’s capability.

About a quarter would be used for constructions and other improvements in parts of Philippine military bases to be occupied by US forces under the 2014 enhanced defence co-operation agreement, Philippine Ambassador to the US, Jose Manuel Romualdez, said.