MANILA – The United States’ support to the Philippines will not change, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections slated this coming November.
This was the assurance given by both U.S. State Department Secretary Antony Blinken and U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III during a joint press conference in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday.
The U.S. officials are in the country for the Philippines-U.S. Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, also called 2+2 Dialogue, the fourth iteration and the first time being held in Manila.
Both U.S. officials met with their Philippine counterparts, Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr., to discuss “how to further enhance our two countries’ commitment to the PH - U.S. alliance while enabling a common program in support of the rules-based international order, enhanced economic ties, broad-based prosperity, and solutions to evolving regional and global security challenges,” a DFA statement said.
According to Blinken, elections are a regular feature in a democratic country like the U.S., but another regular feature is both countries enjoy a strong and long-standing alliance.
“Of course elections are a regular feature of our democracy. What's also a regular feature is a strong, long-standing alliance between our countries. And that doesn't change from election to election,” Blinken told reporters during the press briefing.
“We have a mutual defense treaty that the United States is committed to. That commitment will endure, again, irrespective of administrations. And this has been a long and powerful story in our history,” Blinken added.
The sentiment was echoed by Austin by saying that “we're more than allies, we're family.”
“I cannot imagine a day when the United States of America and the Philippines are not the best of friends and the best of allies. So, I think, again, we continue to enjoy bipartisan support and that's going to happen going forward in the future,” Austin emphasized.
The United States presidential elections is set on November 5, 2024, with countries contemplating the impact of a Trump administration after the withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place.
Fears that Trump will undo Biden’s current security and defense commitments to its ally-nations are at the forefront of discussions among geo-political experts.
Manalo is confident though that the alliance between Manila and Washington D.C. is strong and “has withstood the test of time.”
“The Philippines-U.S. alliance and friendship has withstood the test of time. We've officially been partners for seven decades but it even goes beyond that and in all those years our relationship has held firmly and in fact has only grown more productive,” Manalo said.
Manalo also mentioned that both countries have shared values and interests, including shared adherence to democratic values, social justice, but also strong people-to-people relationship.
“I think all those factors will combine to ensure that our relationship continues beyond perhaps seven decades and even more. So, I think that is the best way to describe the state of our relationship,” Manalo reiterated.
In the same vein, Teodoro said he does not see any partisan political detraction from both countries’ position because they are based “on principle”.
“I believe our relationship is based on two fundamental things. First is sustainability. Our engagements have always been on the principle of sustainability and not one-off, one-time things. Secondly, we share principles, fundamental principles of adherence to international law and a rules-based international order,” Teodoro explains.
“No partisan political position can denigrate from these fundamental principles, because these are good things, right things that should be encouraged and developed,” Teodoro adds.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose Manual Romualdez believes that the Philippines enjoys “a strong bipartisan support from the U.S. Congress and generally from most Americans,” having built strong relationships with both Democrats and Republicans.
“One thing is clear: regardless of who is in the Oval Office, the relationship between the Philippines and the United States will remain strong and stable because of our many shared values and most of all – the deep people-to-people ties that have always been the biggest hallmark of our relationship,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez added that the presence of the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific region “is crucial in maintaining stability and upholding peace and security”.
This sentiment, Romualdez emphasized, is shared by many nations and allies of the Philippines, including Japan, Australia and Canada.
The Philippines has a longstanding agreement with the United States, also known as the Mutual Defense Treaty, and was signed on August 30, 1951.
The treaty requires both nations to support each other if another party attacks the Philippines or the United States.
Recently, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. approved the expansion of the U.S. military access to four more Philippine military sites, located mostly in the northern part of the country facing Taiwan, under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The decision was faced with strong opposition from China, with Beijing saying the presence of U.S. forces would “drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical strife”, but Marcos justified his decision by saying U.S. military presence in the country is “vital to the country’s territorial defense”.
