Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. is optimistic the United States will honor its commitments to the Philippines amid recent sweeping orders from President Donald Trump to stop funding US foreign assistance programs.
Teodoro expressed confidence Washington will uphold its defense cooperation pledges with Manila, despite the US State Department stopping the work of US humanitarian organizations to re-evaluate and realign their operations under the Trump administration.
He said there were plans to speak soon with newly confirmed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to discuss this concern.
“We’ll see, but I’m very optimistic that the trajectory of existing agreements will not change,” Teodoro said late Tuesday.
Teodoro met with US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz in Washington, D.C. last January 22 (US time). He said Waltz assured him of the US’ unwavering commitment to its defense agreements with the Philippines.
“In our conversation, Mr. Waltz emphasized that the commitment remains the same, and we discussed enhancing existing partnerships,” according to the Philippine defense chief.
Teodoro also held discussions with Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Andrew Byers, and NSC Senior Director for Asia Ivan Kanapathy.
Under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former US President Joe Biden, the Philippines and the United States strengthened their defense cooperation to ensure safe and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea.
During the previous Biden administration, the two nations identified four military facilities in the Philippines that US forces could access under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
A report by the Philippine STAR said Trump’s foreign aid freeze impacted at least 39 development projects in the Philippines worth P4-billion, jeopardizing critical work from forest protection to education projects in the Bangsamoro region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the suspension of all US foreign aid programs worldwide last January 24, except those in Israel and Egypt. The Department of Foreign Affairs acknowledged this development, but said it won’t have an effect on the EDCA sites.