December 9, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III highlighted the changes in US ties with the Philippines and US posture upgrade, including expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) to allow access to four more sites in the country.
Austin pointed to the strength of its alliances and partnerships, noting the 32 member nations of NATO, alliances with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand, 14 major non-NATO allies and major defense partners.
“Just think about the changes in our bonds with the Philippines. In just four years, we’ve expanded our Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement to allow US access to four more sites… – for a total of nine. I visited one of those sites on the island of Palawan just 18 days ago – and I was incredibly impressed by the progress that we’re making together,” he said in his remarks at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday.
The secretary said that much progress has been made with friends in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly significant at a time when China has become increasingly aggressive and bullying to its neighbors.
“We face major national security challenges. That includes coercion and bullying from the People’s Republic of China,” Austin said.
He mentioned warnings about the rise of an increasingly aggressive and bullying China, saying “it is still the only country on Earth with both the desire – and, increasingly, the capability – to reshape the international order.”
“And this administration has done more than any other to posture the Department to meet that ‘pacing challenge’ – and to make the Indo-Pacific our priority theater of operations,” Austin said.
“Our rivals and foes look at that with envy. They see our alliances, and they want to wreck them,” he added.
During his visit in the country last month, the Pentagon chief said the Philippines will remain an important country to the US for years to come.
Austin noted that the US is profoundly committed to the defense of the Philippines, and the US commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty is ironclad, as he reiterated that the MDT applies to armed attacks on either of the two countries’ armed forces, aircraft, or public vessels, including coast guards anywhere in the South China Sea.
Austin revealed the existence of what appeared to be a military unit of American troops in the country called “US Task Force Ayungin.”
Ayungin refers to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, where the AFP maintains an outpost utilizing the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.
The US embassy in Manila said US forces are supporting Philippine military operations in the West Philippine Sea with the deployment of American service members to US Task Force Ayungin.
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