US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold high-level talks with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during which he is expected to underscore Washington’s efforts to reinforce its alliance with Manila and deepen its engagement in the Indo-Pacific amid the persistent tension with China.

Rubio will be in the country from today until the 23rd to attend the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum, according to the US State Department.

The visit will include a bilateral meeting with Marcos and Cabinet officials.

The trip comes as the Philippines, this year’s ASEAN chair, hosts a series of regional diplomatic meetings expected to draw major powers, including China represented by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russia by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with the maritime disputes in the South China Sea, the Myanmar crisis, and regional security expected to dominate the discussions.

Rubio’s visit marks one of the highest-level engagements between Washington and Manila since US President Donald Trump returned to office, highlighting the Philippines’ growing role in Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

Tangible partnership

According to the State Department, Rubio will use the visit to “demonstrate the tangible results of the US-ASEAN partnership” and to strengthen the United States’ comprehensive strategic partnership with the Philippines.

His meeting with Marcos is expected to focus on defense cooperation, economic ties, and regional security, particularly in the contested South China Sea, where confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels have intensified over the past several years.

The visit also comes as Manila and Washington continue to expand their military cooperation under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which grants US forces access to additional Philippine military sites, and after the two allies elevated their security coordination through regular joint patrols and large-scale military exercises in Philippine waters.

Diplomats also expect Rubio to hold discussions with Wang on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings as Washington and Beijing seek to stabilize relations ahead of a possible summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.