The visit of the new United States Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, is a feather in the cap of our man in Washington, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez. Early on, Romualdez made a pilgrimage to
The visit of the new United States Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, is a feather in the cap of our man in Washington, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez. Early on, Romualdez made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago and articulated a confident approach to Trump 2.0 on several simultaneous levels, ranging from warning Filipinos in America illegally to “self-deport,” to announcing potential Philippine investments in the United States, to our armed forces proving it was pulling itself up by its bootstraps with announcements of additional weapons purchases, not to mention leveraging personal ties between the US President and the mother of our current one. Hegseth will be coming from visits to American bases in Hawaii and Guam, and Manila will be his first regional stop, with Japan coming second—a ranking that Filipinos, always keen to detect signs of favor or disregard, have taken to be a positive sign of Washington’s intentions.
At first, Washington watchers took heart when Marco Rubio was appointed secretary of state, but his first weeks in office quickly revealed his influence may be quite limited and his ability to weigh in on policy questions equally severely handicapped. As it is, the Philippines is one country that has taken a hit from the sudden extinction of the US Agency for International Development and its programs, although most if not all Pentagon funding for the Philippines received an exemption from a comprehensive freeze on aid pending review.
There has been unease in the region due to uncertainty, and thus, higher risk involving American defense intentions toward Taiwan.
