Trump exempts the Philippines from “foreign aid freeze.”

According to a wire report Monday, 24 February, the Trump administration has authorized the release of $5.3 billion in frozen foreign aid, which includes $336 million for the modernization of Philippine security forces.

This has freed up the US aid to the Philippines for modernizing its armed forces. Both countries are committed to their treaty alliance and their joint efforts to further strengthen their defense cooperation as agreed upon at the first trilateral summit among the United States, Japan and the Philippines on 11 April 2024.

The trilateral summit was attended by then President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It was called in response to China’s enforcement of its claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea which the three nations deemed “dangerous and aggressive behavior.”

China condemned the summit, insisting that its actions in the South China Sea and East China Sea were “lawful.” China and Japan both claim an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the latter sea.

It was announced at the summit that the three nations would make the Philippines the new hub of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment of the Group of Seven (G7) by opening the Luzon Economic Corridor. The partnership is intended to be G7’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Japan and the United States would commit $8 million to fund the Open Radio Access Network (RAN) field trials in the Philippines.

Japan and the Philippines agreed to deepen their defense ties due to their mutual alarm over China’s aggression. Last Monday, 24 February, both countries agreed to further deepen their defense collaboration and talk about protecting shared military information in the face of mutual alarm over China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the region.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Philippine counterpart, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, forged the agreements in a meeting in Manila where their concern over China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea was high on the agenda.

At the opening of his meeting with Nakatani, Teodoro said the Philippines was looking forward to boosting defense relations with Japan “against unilateral attempts by China and other countries to change the international order and the narrative.”

Nakatani said he agreed with Teodoro on strengthening their operational cooperation, including on joint and multinational defense training, port calls and information-sharing.

High on their agenda was the “expansion of bilateral cooperation, especially in the context of the Reciprocal Access Agreement.” The agreement includes live-fire drills, the first to be forged by Japan in Asia.

“We also agreed to commence discussions between our defense authorities on the military information protection mechanism,” Nakatani said.

The Philippines signed an agreement with the United States last year to better secure the exchange of highly confidential military intelligence and technology on key weapons to allow the sale of such weaponry to the Philippines.

Japan has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counter-strike capability that breaks from the country’s post-war principle focusing only on self-defense. It’s doubling its defense spending in the five-year period to 2027 to bolster its military power.