The U.S.-Philippines alliance is a key to stability and progress in the Indo-Pacific, and it’s on track to build on the progress made over the past three years, said Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, on Thursday.
Ratner told the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ South China Sea Conference that the progress in the alliance has been historic, and he sees it as “truly transformative and decisive, as emblematic of broader strategic changes across the Indo-Pacific.”
He credited the presidents of the U.S. and the Philippines for the advances in the closeness of the alliance and discussed what this cooperation will look like in the future.
It hasn’t been easy, Ratner said. One of the first trips Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III made when he took over his position in 2021 was to the Philippines. He met with then-President Rodrigo Duterte in the nation’s capital, Manila. The alliance was on shaky ground at the time, Ratner said.
“I’ll never forget that engagement, which marked a key turning point at a critical time in the alliance,” the assistant secretary said. “In the wake of that meeting, we saw a renewed commitment to the alliance on both sides.”
Since then, the alliance has gotten closer, and it has picked up considerable momentum under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
A U.S. Navy landing craft, air cushion, assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5, transits through Subic Bay during Exercise Balikatan 23 in the Subic Bay Harbor in the Philippines, , April 11, 2023. © Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tom Tonthat
President Joe Biden has met with Marcos on several occasions, just as Austin has met with his defense counterparts on numerous occasions.
Key to the engagement is the fact, as Austin said to Marcos during their last Pentagon meeting, “that our two countries are more than allies. We’re family.”
“We have elevated the U.S.-Philippines alliance to stand among our most vital defense partnerships in the world,” Ratner said. “We have raised the profile of alliance engagements. We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Manila in the midst of a changing security environment.”
Part of this is the agreement for U.S. rotational presence in the Philippines, Ratner said. The two nations have also taken major steps to increase interoperability, and the U.S. military is working closely with the Philippines’ armed forces on force modernization. “And we have pursued new opportunities together with the Philippines to cooperate multilaterally with like-minded partners across the Indo-Pacific in support of a shared vision for a free and open region,” he said.
Part of this vision is the United States standing with the Philippines as the nation defends its lawful rights in the South China Sea, Ratner said. China is challenging the Philippines’ lawful right to the Second Thomas Shoal, a “low-tide elevation beyond any lawful territorial sea, on the Philippines’ continental shelf, and well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” Ratner said.
China’s claim on the Shoal “has no more credibility today than it did when the arbitral tribunal issued its unanimous ruling in 2016,” he said. “And the kind of revisionism and coercion we’ve seen there from [China] is both destabilizing and dangerous.”
This aggressive Chinese behavior stands in sharp contrast to the remarkable leadership by President Marcos to protect and defend the rights of the Philippines under international law, Ratner said.
“All the while, the United States has acted in support of the Philippines and made clear that our alliance commitments are ironclad and that all nations should be able to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” Ratner said.
The assistant secretary said last year was transformative for U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific, with U.S. force posture being “more mobile, distributed, resilient and lethal.”
The U.S.-Philippines agreement to expand U.S. rotational access to four new strategic sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was a highlight of the year. “We’re committed to continuing to invest in infrastructure improvements at all nine EDCA sites to strengthen combined training, exercises and interoperability between our forces, as well as to support humanitarian assistance and disaster response efforts,” he said.
This has laid the groundwork for more. “The United States and the Philippines are discussing the conclusion of a General Security of Military Information Agreement … that will strengthen and expand our information sharing,” Ratner said. “We are also working together on a security sector assistance roadmap to help prioritize shared investments in the modernization of Philippine forces.”
The Philippines is also taking an active role in a growing community of “minilateral” cooperation across the region. “This is not a single coalition or institution, and it’s certainly not like any other arrangement in any other region,” he said. “Instead, it’s unique to the opportunities and challenges of the Indo-Pacific – comprised of like-minded countries who share a vision for what the region can and should look like.”
The Philippines is working alongside Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and other nations of the region in these exercises.
These like-minded nations are moving toward greater interoperability and cooperation, Ratner said. They are granting reciprocal access. They are also engaging in more complicated and complex regional exercises. “The new convergence in the Indo-Pacific won’t always start with or include the United States, nor should it,” Ratner said.
The U.S-Philippines alliance is healthy and poised for more achievements to come, Ratner said.
