WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid intensifying tensions in the Indo-Pacific, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. reaffirmed the importance of the Philippines’ alliance with the United States, calling it essential in safeguarding regional peace and security.
Speaking during a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Tuesday (Philippine time), Marcos emphasized that the Philippine – United States partnership plays a stabilizing role not only in the South China Sea but across the wider Indo-Pacific.
“I believe that our alliance, the United States and the Philippines, had formed a great part in terms of preserving the peace, in terms of preserving the stability of the South China Sea. But I would even go as far as to say in the entire Indo-Pacific region,” Marcos said.
The President urged continued diplomatic and defense collaboration between the two nations, especially in light of evolving geopolitical challenges.
“We must continue to be in discussion. We must continue to evolve that relationship as the circumstances, the context in which we operate has evolved,” he added.
Marcos also thanked the US for its sustained support through joint military exercises and defense assistance, noting their vital role in boosting the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“That forms a very, very important part of that relationship. And again, it is a proper response considering the challenges that we face in the Philippines, specifically vis-à-vis the changing geopolitical forces and the political developments around our part of the world,” he said.
He cited Hegseth’s visit to Manila in March as a symbolic reaffirmation of the enduring PH-US defense alliance and their commitments under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
Marcos was accompanied by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Presidential Adviser for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, and Defense Undersecretary Salvador Melchor Mison Jr.
The President was welcomed with an enhanced honor cordon — a military ceremonial reception typically reserved for top-level foreign dignitaries — underscoring the depth of military and diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Marcos is on a three-day official visit to Washington, D.C., from July 20 to 22 at the invitation of US President Donald Trump. He is the first Southeast Asian leader to meet with Trump during the latter’s second term./PN
