A visiting United States Senate delegation has recently reaffirmed their commitment and support for the Philippine-United States alliance under the second Trump administration’
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said US Senators John Peter Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Christopher Coons (D-Delaware), and Theodore Paul Budd (R-North Carolina) met with him recently to discuss defense cooperation, economic security and economic resilience, among others.
“The meeting ended with the US Congressional delegation members reaffirming their commitment and support to the Philippines-US Alliance,” Manalo wrote on X (Twitter).
Together with Manalo and the US lawmakers were US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson and officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The DFA has yet to provide specific details of the meeting. Last month. Ricketts affirmed the importance of Indo-Pacific allies like the Philippines amid the changing geopolitical environment in the region.
He acknowledged Manila’s “incredible resolve” in resisting Beijing’s “unlawful aggression in the South China Sea “despite its being outmatched militarily and economically.”
Sen. Coons was among the US officials to question the pause in the vast majority of US foreign assistance programs, including a counter-terrorism program in the Philippines which sought to reduce rebel recruitment and radicalization.
On the 73rd anniversary of the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty in September 2024, both Ricketts and Coons also introduced a US Senate resolution reaffirming Washington, DC’s commitment to the defense of the Philippines in case of an armed attack on its armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including the Philippine Coast Guard, anywhere in the South China Sea.
Ricketts said there is a need to “send a clear message to Beijing that the United States stands by the Philippines and will act to restore deterrence and ensure our ally can defend itself.”
Coons, for his part, pledged to stand with the Filipino people “in their efforts to defend their territorial sovereignty and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Coons and Ricketts are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while Budd is part of various committees, including the Armed Services; Commerce, Science and Transportation. (With PNA)