US VP Harris reaffirms defense commitment to PH amid WPS tensions

US Vice President Kamala Harris | FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — US Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed the US commitment to the defense of the Philippines amid Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, as well as maintaining the strong ties between the two countries.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), in a statement on Wednesday, Harris made the commitment during a phone call with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday night (Manila time).

The phone call came just a day after Marcos’ trilateral phone conversation with US President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru.

READ: Marcos, Biden, Ishiba pledge stronger trilateral ties in phone call

“Indeed, and I will tell you from my first visit to Manila and our first conversation, it is extremely important to me and to the United States that we reaffirm the commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including the South China Sea,” Harris, as quoted by the PCO, told Marcos.

Harris also reflected on her previous visit to the Philippines, particularly her trip to Palawan in November 2022, which she said underscored “the vulnerability in the region.”

This visit, she said, strengthened Biden’s resolve to support the Philippines in terms of both security and prosperity.

“I know there is bipartisan support within the United States Congress and within the US for the strength of this relationship and the enduring nature of it in terms of security, but again prosperity and to your point of people-to-people ties,” Harris said.

Marcos expressed his gratitude to Harris, noting the productive partnership the Philippines has had with the US.

“Madame Vice President, before I came to this call, I was going through all of the things that we had discussed in the past couple of years. And it is remarkable how much work we have been able to do and how much it has progressed and developed the relationship between our two countries. Already very strong relationship but evolving and evolving for the modern challenges that we face, both for us and the South China Sea and for the United States around the world,” Marcos said.

“As I told President Biden when I spoke to him, I said that I remember … just before we signed the trilateral agreement in Washington, that, I said to President Biden that this will change the dynamic of the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific. And it certainly has done that,” he added.

Marcos then emphasized that the ties among the Philippines, the US, and Japan have gained recognition within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, further strengthening their collective position on pressing issues in the West Philippine Sea.

He also noted Harris’ contributions to the Philippines, which paved the way for a strong foundation for continued collaboration with the US.

Marcos then expressed a desire to “build on” the work the two nations have already done, continuing to be grounded on shared values and international law.

Before the phone call, Marcos last met with Harris before the beginning of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference in San Francisco in November 2023, which centered on the Philippine assessment of the situation in the West Philippine Sea.

They also met when Harris visited Manila in November 2022; when Harris hosted Marcos at the Naval Observatory in May 2023; a bilateral meeting on the margins of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta in September 2023; and a trilateral meeting with Japan Prime Minister Kishida in Jakarta in September 2023.