US legislators assure commitment to Manila-Washington alliance

A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation vowed to stand by America's treaty alliance with the Philippines, according to Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.

The three-member American delegation, including the chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also praised Manila for its efforts in ensuring peace and stability in the region, where overlapping claims in the South China Sea have led to a series of confrontations between Philippine and Chinese coast guards.

Manila refers to the stretch of waters in the South China Sea within its internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as West Philippine Sea.

The American legislators—Sen.. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware), and Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) separately met this week with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and top Philippine Coast Guard officials.

Ricketts, who heads the Foreign Relations Committee, "expressed his appreciation to the Philippines’ leadership in preserving peace and stability in the region and underscored U.S. support for the historic Philippines-U.S. alliance," Manalo said.

Defense cooperation, economic security, and economic resilience were also discussed in the meeting last Tuesday, he added.

A Department of Foreign Affairs statement said Manalo and the American legislators tackled "opportunities to reinforce" the two treaty allies' defense and security cooperation as they exchanged views on "addressing regional peace and security challenges."

The visit of Ricketts, Coons—a ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee—and Budd, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the first under the Trump administration.

U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policy raised concerns among its allies that Washington may scale back American military and defense assistance to allies across the world.

But U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in his visit to Manila last month, doused such concerns as he said that the Trump administration will enhance cooperation with allies, including the Philippines, to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

The Philippines and the U.S. have an existing Mutual Defense Treaty, a 1951 defense pact that binds the two allies to come to each other’s aid from aggression and help defend the other party.

About 14,000 American and Filipino forces will hold combat-readiness drills in the Philippines, including in the country's northern province of Batanes, facing Taiwan, a self-ruling democratic island that separated from mainland China in 1949. China considers Taiwan as its province, threatening to annex it by force if necessary. 

This year's large-scale military exercises, called Balikatan or shoulder to shoulder, from April 21 to May 9 would involve fighter aircraft, navy ships, and various military equipment and weapons, including a U.S. anti-ship missile system. —VAL, GMA Integrated News