The US is helping the Philippines modernize its military

MANILA, Philippines—A new “convergence” of Asian nations including Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines is reshaping the security environment of the Indo-Pacific, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a crowd here this week. 

“We can see that new convergence right here. The United States, the Philippines, and our other allies and partners are operating together more patiently and capably than ever, and we're working together to ensure a free and open region.” 

Austin didn’t say “against the threat of China”—but he didn’t have to. Tensions between the Philippines and China have been rising precipitously, and the island nation is looking to the United States to help it develop military capabilities to deter Chinese aggression. Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Philippines this week to officially announce a $500 million package to help the Philippine military build its maritime capabilities, specifically intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to better track and control threats in its waters. 

In 2016, then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte very publicly broke with Washington, calling then-U.S. President Barack Obama “a son of a whore” over his criticism of Duterte on human rights. Duterte also attempted to thaw relations with China, and sought out Chinese investment in his country via China’s Belt and Road initiative. But that didn’t work out as planned. 

In 2020, large numbers of Chinese fishing vessels began to show up near Thitu Island and Whitsun Reef, inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Satellite imagery showed that many appeared to be militia disguised as fishing vessels, as they were stationary and not actually fishing. Duterte was forced to reinstate security ties with the United States in 2021. 

However, tension has continued to rise, and interactions have become more hostile. In 2023, three Filipino fishermen were killed when their boat collided with what Filipino authorities described only as a “foreign vessel.” That same year, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. won the presidential election and accelerated efforts to rebuild bonds with the United States. And in June of this year, members of the Chinese Coast Guard attacked members of the Philippine navy with axes and other bladed weapons as the navy was attempting a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine-flagged navy landing craft that ran aground in 1999 in the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea but has remained manned and in commission.

China claims the entire South China Sea as its territory, though the United States and other nations regularly send naval vessels through the waterway in shows of support and freedom of navigation. While China and the Philippines have reached a tentative agreement allowing resupply missions to resume, that may change at virtually any time, as the two sides do not agree on what the agreement allows. So while resupply of some items is allowed, China may object to advanced electronic equipment or weapons making their way to the ship. 

Gilbert Teodoro, the Philippines’ defense secretary, told reporters on Saturday, “On the gist of the talks made with China…suffice it to state that we will conduct regular and routine resupply missions in accordance with our duties under the Philippine constitution and our responsibilities to our country.”

So what role is the United States looking to play? A big portion of the $500 million in foreign military financing will go to helping the Philippine navy bolster its maritime capabilities. Specifically, the money will buy more unmanned systems and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities for maritime domain awareness, to help the country stay ahead of the wide variety of threats China might pose, from rogue ax-wielding coast guard elements to militia fishing vessels, and beyond, defense officials told Defense One. 

“An investment at that scale is going to be a game changer for Manila's efforts to modernize the armed forces of the Philippines, and I would characterize this as a generational investment in the modernization of the armed forces of the Philippines,” a senior U.S. defense official said on background. 

The method of modernization is spelled out in a roadmap signed over the weekend, an effort “designed to make sure that our two countries share the same understanding about the Philippines’ requirements, and that the capabilities will be used most effectively and the capabilities that will most effectively support the AFPs modernization.”

The Philippines military is in the process of transforming to more effectively confront China, officials say. The military was “primarily focused on internal security challenges, and they have faced major internal security challenges, particularly related to terrorism,” the defense official said. The shift is to “now be more focused on external defense, and in particular maritime security issues. And that is certainly, in part, driven by the coercion and assertiveness that they're confronting from the PRC.” 

The investments will help the Philippines work more closely and effectively with the United States by facilitating more intelligence and information sharing between the two countries, as part of what the Pentagon calls the General Security of Information Agreement. 

“You can expect the secretaries to target the end of this year for concluding that agreement, which will significantly enhance our information sharing and allow for greater transfer of U.S. defense technology and information,” the official said. 

The money is not just a gift to the Philippine government, officials stressed. The United States is also gaining a lot through the increased cooperation—particularly in terms of access to potential ship maintenance facilities. 

“Some of the highlights will include areas where the United States Navy is benefiting from overseas maintenance, repair, and overhaul opportunities, which are quite important, even as the administration is focused on ensuring that we have very strong … shipbuilding capabilities back home in the United States, it is also very important that we have opportunities to be able to do maintenance and repair overhaul in the region as well,” the official said. 

The United States and the Philippine government in 2012 signed an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, or EDCA, which allows the United States access to key Philippine navy sites to train and operate with the Philippine military.  

“Last year we added four additional sites [to five already existing] and strategic locations,” the official said, including three new sites in the area of Luzon, in the northern part of the country, and one on the island of Palawan. “The department has proposed investing $128 million in infrastructure improvements at EDCA sites … that number, $128 million, would more than double in just one year the amount that we've invested in EDCA infrastructure in the past 10 years.”

The Philippines is taking a leading role in coordinating exercises with other partners in the region, such as Australia and Indonesia. “We are seeing partners increasingly doing more and more together on force posture, on exercises and operations as it relates to defense, industrial-based cooperation. And all of this absolutely makes countries more capable individually, but also more collectively, and that absolutely contributes to deterrence,” the official said.

Manila is also looking to ink more agreements with other countries. “It’s a great example in so far as they have recently signed a reciprocal access agreement with Japan. They have one already with Australia…These are agreements that will create opportunities for them to access each other's military facilities and generate some kind of cooperation.” 

But there are limits to that cooperation. The subject of Taiwan, and specifically the mutual defense of Taiwan, is still very sensitive. Manila is committed to China’s “One China” policy, which acknowledges China’s claim over Taiwan. The United States affirms that policy as well, but has been more direct in saying changes to the status quo—efforts to reunify Taiwan with China—should not happen unilaterally or by force. 

The role that regional partners like the Philippines would play in a U.S. military-led operation to repel a Chinese attack on Taiwan is unclear. 

When Defense One asked the senior defense official if the U.S. foreign military investment in the Philippine military would enable the Philippines to play an active role in Taiwan's defense, the official answered: “I think there's a broader strategy to ensure … that our security assistance is focused on the priority requirements of the partners themselves as they look at the operational challenges that they're facing. I'll just leave it at that.”