The United States (US) has reaffirmed its commitment to its long-standing alliance with the Philippines despite ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Speaking at the opening of Exercise Balikatan 41-2026 at Camp Aguinaldo on Monday, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, personally assured him that Washington’s support remains unwavering.

Brawner disclosed that he had spoken with Paparo at the onset of the Middle East conflict, where the US commander emphasized that alliance commitments in the Indo-Pacific would not be diminished by crises “elsewhere.”

“In that conversation, he assured me that despite the conflict happening now in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world, the commitment of the United States is still strong,” Brawner said, adding that this year’s Balikatan exercises are expected to be the largest ever conducted.

The annual drills, a cornerstone of the Philippine-US alliance, have evolved from a bilateral training activity into a broad multilateral exercise reflecting shifting regional security dynamics.