US, PH top execs hold defense meet amid West Philippine Sea tension

MANILA, Philippines — United States defense and state ministers arrived in the country on Tuesday for a meeting with Philippine counterparts amid West Philippine Sea tension.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, for the 4th Philippines-US Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue (2+2 Dialogue).

Before this, Blinken and Austin paid a courtesy call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Malacañan Palace.

“I think today is genuinely historic,” Blinken told Marcos. “It’s, I think, really evidence of a steady drumbeat, a very high level of engagements between our countries that are covering the full range of issues and opportunities that bring us together.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III (L) during a courtesy call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. The two high-level US officials expressed their condolences to the victims of Typhoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and the enhanced southwest monsoon. Blinken and Austin were joined by other US officials (background) in Malacañang. | Photo screengrabbed from RTVM

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This is the first time the policy-level dialogue is being held in Manila as previous meetings were held in Washington, DC, USA.

“We have common interests, common values, and so I think we’ve done a lot over the last three and a half years to continue to strengthen our alliance and we look forward to continuing to work with you and your team to move even further,” Austin told Marcos during their meeting in Malacañang.

Tuesday’s meeting at Camp Aguinaldo, however, was met with protest, as a group expressed fear that it “will lead to intensified and direct military intervention of the US.”

A number of protestors from Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) burned a US flag in front of Camp Aguinaldo along Edsa.

“He echoes the war rhetoric of the US against China which heightens tension and instability in the region,” Bayan said, referring to Marcos.

The 4th Philippines-US Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue comes after the June 17 incident at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, when the world saw the most violent actions of China Coast Guard (CCG) members against Philippine Navy personnel.

During the incident, CCG members seized and disassembled high-powered guns of Philippine Navy personnel and destroyed Philippine rubber boats. The violent encounter also resulted in the thumb amputation of a Filipino naval personnel.

Earlier this month, Manila and Beijing held a meeting and reached an “understanding” – as the Department of Foreign Affairs described it – regarding the handling of Ayungin Shoal.

On July 27, the resupply mission for Philippine troops stationed at the grounded World War II-era ship BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal proceeded without any incident.