BBM: No new defense pacts

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday that no new defense or security agreements were discussed during his inaugural bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Speaking to Filipino journalists at Blair House, where he is billeted upon Trump’s invitation, Marcos cited time constraints as the reason their meeting did not cover the expansion of defense cooperation between longstanding treaty allies Manila and Washington.

“As a matter of fact, there were during the meetings, there were no agreements that were up for discussion at the time, kasi sandali lang (because they were short),” he said.

“Actually, Secretary Gilbert [Teodoro] and the other Cabinet secretaries came ahead. They, some of them, were here. They’re 17, more or less around there,” he added.

Marcos said some discussions on defense had taken place before he arrived on Sunday involving key Cabinet officials and their American counterparts.

“So, marami na silang napag-usapan (they had discussed a lot). But you’ll have to understand whatever defense arrangements were arrived at, we cannot talk about because there are operational details. But maybe there is something that you can discuss,” he said.

For his part, Teodoro said that while there were no new major security agreements, his discussions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth focused on enhancing existing areas of cooperation between the two countries.

“[T]he gist of the discussion was the enhancement of our ongoing collaborative activities, bilaterally and multilaterally,” he said. “Of course, we are nuancing the Balikatan as an interoperability exercise that, in the case too that it also readies the Armed Forces of the Philippines to adapt to new skill sets, face new threats and challenges, and ultimately acquire the necessary infrastructure for introducing new systems, including the current systems.”

Teodoro said one of the key takeaways from the trip was the strengthened commitment to deepen cooperation in terms of joint military drills and to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“And so this is a major part of the takeaways from this trip — the enhanced cooperation, including assurance of support for our continuing modernization of the military, our armed forces, through the Philippine sectors, Security Sector Assistance Roadmap, and the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act,” he said.

“And we’re very thankful for the continued advocacy of the Trump administration for it in connection with the US legislature under the leadership of President Marcos,” he added.