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The United States is seeking an expansion of its military presence in the Philippines under a 2014 defense pact, U.S. and Philippine officials said, one of the initiatives that will be discussed during Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit that focuses on the defense of its treaty ally in the face of China’s sweeping territorial claims.
Harris will hold talks with President Ferdinand Jr. and other officials on Monday during a two-day visit that will include a trip to western Palawan province facing the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.
She was expected to reaffirm U.S. commitment to defend the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty in case Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.
“The United States and the Philippines stand together as friends, partners, and allies,” a statement issued by Harris’s aides said. “Now and always, the U.S. commitment to the defense of the Philippines is ironclad.”
A range of U.S. assistance and projects would also be launched by Harris to help the Philippines deal with climate change and looming energy and food shortages.
The Philippines, a former American colony, used to host one of the largest U.S. Navy and Air Force bases outside the American mainland. The bases were shut down in the early 1990s, after the Philippine Senate rejected an extension, but American forces returned for large-scale combat exercises with Filipino troops under a 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement.
In 2014, the longtime allies signed the Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement, which allows larger numbers of American forces to stay in rotating batches within Philippine military camp, where they could build warehouses, living quarters, joint training facilities and store combat equipment, except nuclear arms.
