PRESS RELEASE
WDC-17-2024
12 April 2024
Embassy Press and Information Section
info@phembassy-us.org
WASHINGTON D.C. – US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, and Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo M. Año in Washington, DC today. The meeting followed US President Joseph Biden Jr.’s bilateral meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., and the historic Japan-Philippines-United States Trilateral Leaders’ Summit on April 11.
The parties reaffirmed their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and discussed ways to deepen coordination regarding shared challenges in the South China Sea, including repeated harassment of lawful Philippine operations by the People’s Republic of China. Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, and National Security Advisor Sullivan reiterated the United States’ ironclad commitment to the U.S.-Philippines Alliance and recalled that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea. The parties underscored their determination to increase U.S. support for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to improve interoperability and to achieve our shared security objectives. The parties further decided to explore additional opportunities to strengthen global support for upholding international law of the sea. END