US Department States Spokesperson Matthew Alan Miller announced in a press release earlier in July the visit of Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for the “United States’ unwavering commitment to the Indo-Pacific allies and partners.” This important milestone is the first 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue scheduled in Manila, a strategic alliance of United States and Philippines diplomatic relations.
Since July 4, 1946, the United States and the Philippines opened its formal diplomatic relations, strengthened its cooperation and partnerships through shared principles and values over the years.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. welcomed Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III of the United States of America (USA) in a joint courtesy call at the Kalayaan Hall, Malacañan Palace on July 30, 2024. Philippine President Marcos Jr. re-affirmed the Philippines’ commitment to enhancing its working relations with the United States in terms of their shared commitment to issues in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), including the Indo-Pacific region.
“I’m always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific, are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses,” Philippine President Marcos Jr. expressed.
Secretary Blinken acknowledged the positive gestures of President Marcos Jr. as he conveyed the greetings of US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He announced, “I think today is genuinely historic. This is the first time that the Philippines has hosted our two-plus-two. It’s, I think, really evidence of a steady drumbeat, a very high level of engagements between our countries that are covering the full range of issues and opportunities that bring us together, not only security but also economic, and we’re truly grateful for this partnership,” Blinken told President Marcos.
“We’re more than allies, we’re family and it always feels that way when, you know, I’m working with our colleagues,” Secretary Austin reverberated Secretary Blinken’s thoughts on enhancing the strong relationship between the US and the Philippines.
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo and Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. hosted the 4th Philippines- U.S. Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue (2+2 Dialogue) with the two U.S. officials in Manila, Philippines. This is the very first meeting held in Manila, previous dialogues were held in Washington, D.C.
The four Secretaries in the 2+2 Dialogue forged a working vision of the two nations’ commitment to the US-Philippines bilateral relations anchored to the “rules-based international order, enhanced economic ties and broad-based prosperity, as well as solutions to evolving regional and global security challenges,” according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.
The secretaries discussed modalities on deepening the coordination on shared challenges, including the South China Sea as well with the advancement of economic agenda. This further included the various means of capitalizing the unprecedented momentum in the United States-Philippines alliance.
Joint Statement on the Philippines-United States Fourth 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo, and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr., convened the fourth Philippines-United States 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Manila on July 30, 2024. In the “Joint Statement on the Philippines-United States Fourth 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue,” since the third 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2023, there were four specific measures reflective to President Biden’s and President Marcos’s “shared vision of partnership, peace, and prosperity.” These are fortifying a maturing and modern alliance; fostering economic resilience for a prosperous and sustainable future; ensuring respect for the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific; and, investing in people-to-people ties.
Fortifying a Maturing and Modern Alliance
The Secretaries acknowledged the valuable partnership in the security alliance and shared commitments reflective of the 1951 United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty given the contentious and complex environment. The 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) are important foundations in strengthening cooperation and interoperability.
Understanding the importance of interoperability and cooperation in both conventional and non-conventional domains, the Secretaries also discussed the nature of threats in various domains — including land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace — and effective responses. The Secretaries welcomed further defense and security coordination with Japan and Australia to address shared regional challenges.
Delivering and building on plans from the 3rd 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2023 and 11th Bilateral Strategic Dialogue in April 2024, the Secretaries committed to:
Salient features subsumed to this pillar is the allocation of USD $500 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) from the FY 2024 Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act. Furthermore, an additional USD $128 million for EDCA infrastructure projects across seven locations based on the U.S. President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025.
An estimated budget of PhP 5.2 billion (USD $88.6 million) was the budget of the Philippines for EDCA locations, US-Philippines are embedding the cyber military exercises, including Exercise Balikatan.
Fostering Economic Resilience for a Prosperous and Sustainable Future
The secretaries ensure the promotion of building more resilient and sustainable communities and economies by multiplying the trade activities.
The Secretaries welcomed progress in bolstering economic engagement over the past year, particularly through the conduct of the first-ever U.S. Presidential Trade and Investment Mission, the Philippines’ co-hosting of the 2024 Indo-Pacific Business Forum, and the launch of the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI)-Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Investment Accelerator. Other major dialogues and key sectors are as follows: Philippines-United States Technical Aviation Dialogue; Philippines-United States Joint Committee on Science and Technology; Philippines-United States-Japan Luzon Economic Corridor Steering Committee; Philippines-United States Space Dialogue; and, Philippine-United States Cyber-Digital Policy Dialogue. Moreover, key sectors like renewable energy, agriculture and food security, critical minerals processing and semiconductors, and infrastructure investments, are considered important areas of economic cooperation.
Ensuring Respect for the Rules-Based Order in the Indo-Pacific
The Secretaries reaffirmed confidence to unimpeded lawful commerce, full respect for international law, including freedom of navigation and overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea as basis on the awareness of both countries are intertwined when it comes to regional and global implications including the challenges of global peace and international rules-based order.
Called on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to comport with the international law of the sea as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the “Convention”), to respect the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and to comply with the final and legally binding July 12, 2016, ruling in the Philippines v. China arbitration;
Investing in People-to-People Ties
The Secretaries emphasized the special relations between the peoples of the United States and the Philippines, based on the long and historical foundations of interwoven history, shared democratic principles including the enshrined values. These reaffirmations are reflective of the inaugural of the Philippines-US Democracy Dialogue in late 2024, cooperation in government agencies, support to academic scholars, including human development and community engagements.
Conclusion
The United States and the Philippines are indeed in the unprecedented momentum of an ironclad diplomatic alliance, the longstanding alliance. The United States pledged $500 million to boost security collaboration in funding and $128 million for EDCA infrastructures, the most unprecedented, a clear message of support from the Biden-Harris administration, the US Congress, and the American people. As the Philippines is the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region, the pledge is also in defense to China’s growing influence in the region. Certainly, the US-Philippines bilateral relations will be a significant contributor to the Indo-Pacific stability, peace, and progress. Ensuring the commitment is enshrined on the shared values and principles of democracy, both nations reaffirmed their ironclad relations despite Washington’s change of leadership by November. In these challenging times, US-Philippines diplomatic ties are also a great impact to the future of the Indo-Pacific in building a region that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient, a peaceful Indo-Pacific region.
