American boy

is now anti-China. Such disengagement (from Beijing), “is not an option,” he clarifies. Our president is practicing what his father espoused, a bold foreign policy. Some of the projects promised BBM by Biden himself:

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is launching a new partnership to scale up infrastructure development in the Philippines and support the construction of high-quality railways, ports and transport systems.

• In 2023, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency will leverage over $3 billion of public and private financing to strengthen the Philippines’ critical mineral supply chains, advance smart grid technologies and clean energy solutions, promote secure 5G deployment, strengthen airport security and maritime safety and support health care infrastructure across the Philippines.

• U.S. will spend $70 million to develop a new generation of PH leaders – 2,000 in 10 years.

• It will spend $30 million to improve the quality of PH universities.

Best of all, the South China Sea, or West Philippine Sea, is now reckoned as part of the Philippine metropolitan territory in the implementation of the PH-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951. Under the MDT, if the Philippines or any part of its territory, vessels, boats, including those of the Philippine Coast Guard, is attacked with force, it will trigger an armed attack from the U.S. because such attack is as if the U.S. itself was attacked.

Biden reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of the Philippines, and the leaders discussed efforts to strengthen the longstanding U.S.-Philippines alliance.

On May 1, 2023, at the White House, President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad alliance commitments to the Philippines. 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 U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 MDT.

Biden and BBM agreed to deepen economic cooperation and promote inclusive prosperity, expand our nations’ special people-to-people ties, invest in the clean energy

“the world’s most exclusive and luxurious hotel” because it is where many heads of state have stayed like Queen Elizabeth, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among many others.

Following the meeting with the Filipino community was the dinner at the Blair House with Philippine Cabinet officials, State Secretary Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, NSA Director Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, Dr. Kurt Campbell of the National Security Council and American and Filipino businessmen that included Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Enrique Razon, Sabin Aboitiz, among several others.

It was the perfect setting for President Marcos Jr. to have an informal but substantive conversation with Secretary Blinken. I sat down with Secretary Austin and our good friend, Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee. The ceremonial activities transition and address the climate crisis and ensure respect for human rights. The leaders discussed regional matters and coordinated on efforts to uphold international law and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Biden and Marcos announced a number of new arrangements and initiatives to expand on the historic momentum in U.S.Philippine relations, including the adoption of Bilateral Defense Guidelines, President Biden’s dispatching of a Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines, the launch of an Open RAN 5G interoperability lab in Manila and the establishment of a bilateral Labor Working Group.

The Philippines is the U.S.’s oldest ally in the Indo-Pacific. Since 1951, the U.S.-Philippines alliance has advanced peace, prosperity and security for the United States, the Philippines and the broader Indo-Pacific region, said a White House briefing paper.

The U.S. and the Philippines are modernizing the alliance and building a strong and resilient architecture that is designed to meet emerging challenges, while routinizing joint planning and improving interoperability.

On April 28, 2023, their armies concluded the largestever iteration of their flagship bilateral military exercise, Balikatan. “We are also and subsequent meetings of the president were equally substantial and significant.

Needless to say, the full military honors he received –with a 21-gun salute and the playing of the Philippine and U.S. national anthems – at the Pentagon before the bilateral meeting with Secretary Austin was very impressive. I have to admit that even after seeing such events countless of times, I still get goosebumps. The visit to Arlington Cemetery was an especially touching ceremony where the president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Capping the official activities of the president during his fourday visit to Washington was the policy speech he delivered at the ASEAN Leadership Forum of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent think-tank which he described as “one of the world’s foremost policy institutions on national security and foreign policy issues.”

In his very well received speech, President Marcos Jr. spelled out how he sees the relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. to be expanding cooperation among our coast guards to better address the challenges posed by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and other unlawful maritime activities; when Vice President Harris visited Palawan in November 2022, she announced $7.5 million in new assistance to enhance the capabilities of Philippine maritime law enforcement agencies, as well as a new program to upgrade the Philippine Coast Guard’s vessel traffic management system,” said the White House paper. PH and U.S. have identified four new sites pursuant to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which “will strengthen Philippine security and support the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization goals, while driving U.S. investment to local communities across the Philippines and improving our shared ability to rapidly deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”

Other initiatives:

• Bilateral Defense Guidelines that institutionalize key bilateral priorities, mechanisms and processes to deepen alliance cooperation and interoperability across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.

The Guidelines support the continued modernization of the alliance and ongoing efforts to like in the next five to 10 years at the very least, underscoring the need to evolve the alliance and “make it more responsive to present and emerging challenges” because “national security is no longer about territorial defense. Economic security is national security.”

He was very specific on issues of vital importance regarding the economic aspect of the relationship, making a case for “forging closer economic ties because creating prosperity and realizing human potential will not only make the Philippines a more reliable partner for the United States” – but will also strengthen both countries’ democracies.

Being in the front seat, I can confidently say that this was an extremely successful and fruitful visit of the president – not to bask in the glory for himself but for our country. (Philstar.com)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * babeseyeview@gmail.com adapt alliance coordination to respond to the evolving security environment. The two countries will advance efforts to deepen interoperability, particularly through enhanced bilateral planning; information-sharing; accelerated defense capability development and collaboration on emerging security challenges.

• The U.S. will transfer to the Armed Forces of the Philippines two Island-class patrol vessels, two Protector-class patrol vessels and three C-130H aircraft, pending applicable congressional notification requirements. Additionally, two Cyclone-class coastal patrol vessels were transferred to the Philippines in late April and are now en route to Manila. These transfers will support AFP’s modernization program by enhancing its maritime and tactical lift capabilities.

• At the nine EDCA sites, the U.S. will support health, education, environmental protection, economic growth and disaster preparedness. (Philstar.com)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

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