PH, U.S. reaffirm defense ties

The Philippines and the United States reaffirmed their longstanding alliance and shared commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region during a high-level meeting between their defense chiefs at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met on the sidelines of the annual security forum to discuss strengthening defense cooperation amid evolving regional security challenges.

Teodoro welcomed the outcomes of the recent US-ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting and praised Hegseth’s active engagement with Southeast Asian counterparts.

“We just came off the heels of a very successful US-ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting, where Secretary Hegseth made a great impact — I could feel it among our counterparts here,” Teodoro said.

He added that the meeting reflected the Trump administration’s strong commitment to engage with ASEAN and support a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific.

Reaffirming Manila’s position, Teodoro stressed the Philippines’ intent to deepen its bilateral and multilateral ties with allies “guided by our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

“The Philippines seeks peace, but it must be a sustainable peace — one grounded in our own resilience and reinforced through alliances with like-minded partners,” he said. Teodoro also expressed optimism about the future of the PH-US alliance, calling the meeting “an opportunity to further strengthen an already robust defense relationship.”