Grateful for friends as fierce as foes

It is heartening to note that the US, under the administration of President Donald Trump, is standing steadfast in its support of the Philippines where economic aid and the country’s problems with China are concerned.

A statement issued by Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza after Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo met with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington on Monday, 9 June, said both officials “reaffirmed the importance of our continued defense and security cooperation, including support for the Philippines’ defense modernization efforts.”

Cited by both Rubio and Manalo in joint statements was the progress made in bilateral talks on security relations, particularly on foreign military sales by the US to help the Philippines meet its security needs.

This was in reference to concerns aired by the US in May over China’s actions in the South China Sea, particularly its “unsafe and irresponsible actions” in the vicinity of Scarborough Reef, and its repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ freedom of navigation and its disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal.

Likewise, to recall, China’s Coast Guard in mid-April seized maritime control of Tiexian Reef, otherwise known as Sandy Cay. This added to the rising tension between Beijing and Manila as the small sandbank lies close to Thitu Island, also known as Pag-asa Island, which hosts a Philippine military facility and a newly inaugurated Coast Guard base, making the incident particularly sensitive.

China continues to insist on its sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, waving away competing assertions by other countries and an international ruling that said its claims had no legal basis.

The US government said such reports claiming control of Sandy Cay were “deeply concerning,” with National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt stating that “actions like this threaten regional stability and violate international law. We are consulting closely with our partners and remain committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Also, earlier this month, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. denounced the “malicious narratives” of Chinese state media during the Institute for International Studies Shangri-la Dialogue, a high level annual defense and security forum held in Singapore on 31 May-2 June.

Teodoro expressed frustration over what he called disinformation tactics, noting that China did not send high-ranking defense officials to the dialogue but Chinese nationals whom he said were intelligence operatives posing as journalists dispatched to confront Philippine officials, specifically himself and General Brawner.

These individuals, according to Brawner, released an article on Chinese super app, WeChat, which erroneously reported that the Philippines was avoiding answering questions about the West Philippine Sea, “and accused us of infiltrating, encroaching on and entering their territory.”

At the forum, Teodoro addressed persistent narratives on the Philippines siding with the US in its rivalry with China, “as if we are mere pawns with no strategic agency of our own.”

Teodoro stressed that the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea “is not a function of Sino-American strategic rivalry; it is caused by the overreach of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Also in Singapore for the Shangri-la Dialogue was US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth who met with Teodoro and reiterated the US’s commitment to strengthen its defense cooperation with the Philippines, even as he described the partnership between the two countries as key to keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

This was the same assurance Hegseth made when he visited Manila in late March. Then, he announced that the US was exempting $500 million in military aid to the Philippines from the freeze on all foreign aid imposed by President Trump shortly after the latter’s re-assumption to the US presidency.

It really doesn’t matter however Beijing or the rest of the world may see it — the Philippines must look for support where the country can find it, harassed as it is by a superpower well-equipped for aggressive engagement like China.

It is, in this regard, that we welcome the continued support of steadfast allies like the US whose abiding friendship is akin to an unyielding anchor that keeps the country steady in turbulent seas.