A new agreement between the US and the Philippines will seek to protect the exchange of highly confidential military technology and intelligence. The outgoing Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen an arc of military alliances across the Indo-Pacific region to better counter China.
The United States and the Philippines signed an agreement on Monday to protect the sharing of highly sensitive military technology and intelligence on key weapons that the United States would provide to Manila.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro signed the Comprehensive Military Information Security Agreement in Manila as the long-standing allies have stepped up their military and defense commitments, including joint exercises of large-scale combat, largely in response to China's increasingly aggressive actions in Asia.
Joe Biden's outgoing administration has taken steps to strengthen an arc of military alliances across the Indo-Pacific region to better counter China, for example in any future confrontation over Taiwan or in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
This has coincided with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s efforts to strengthen his country's external defenses in the face of an alarming escalation of territorial confrontations between Chinese and Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
The Department of National Defense in Manila said the agreement is intended to ensure the security of classified military information that would be shared between the United States and the Philippines.
It will allow “the Philippines to access superior capabilities and high-value items from the United States,” the Philippine Department of Defense said.
Neither party provided further details or released a copy of the agreement.
However, two Philippine security officials have told the AP that the document, similar to those Washington has signed with other allied countries, would allow the United States to provide the Philippines with high-level intelligence and more sophisticated weapons, including missile systems.
It would also provide the Philippine military with access to U.S. satellite and drone surveillance systems with the assurance that such intelligence and details about sophisticated weapons would be kept tightly guarded to prevent potential leaks, the two Philippine officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive issue publicly.
Philippine efforts to obtain sophisticated weapons from the U.S. military have been hampered in the past by the lack of an intelligence agreement, such as when Philippine forces rushed to combat a 2017 siege by Filipino and foreign militiamen aligned with the State group. Islamic in the southern city of Marawi.
Filipino forces, supported by American and Australian spy planes, quelled the uprising after five months.
Austin and Teodoro also attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a center where the U.S. and Philippine militaries would coordinate future joint operations, including information sharing. Austin said the center “will be a place where our forces can work side by side to respond to regional challenges.”
Austin renewed the United States' commitment to the Philippines as an ally, telling Teodoro that “we are more than allies. We are family.”
The coordination center, Teodoro said, would provide “a unified picture of shared areas of responsibility and common approaches to threats against our security.”
“I am sure that it will benefit future generations of both towns because although we can change people, values do not change,” said Teodoro.
The Philippine defense chief reiterated the crucial need for the US security presence in the region, citing Marcos' repeated statements that such a presence “is essential to maintain peace and stability in this region.”