US interest in Asia: Business, not war

The Philippines and the US are close allies.

- TONY LOPEZ

That’s the theory. The Philippines is the only and oldest defense and treaty ally of the US in Asia.Under the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951, an attack on one is an attack on the other. If you attack the Philippines, it is like attacking the US itself and the latter will respond correspondingly, in accordance with its constitutional processes. Under Donald Trump, that defense guarantee was upgraded to “ironclad.”

In 2022, then vice president Kamala Harris told President Marcos Jr. that “an armed attack on the Philippines armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke US Mutual Defense commitments.”

In September 2024, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III reaffirmed America’s “ironclad” commitment to defending the Philippines after China’s latest effort to assert its naval presence in the South China Sea

On Oct. 30, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. They announced the creation of “Task Force Philippines” —a joint initiative aimed at improving US-Philippines cooperation and interoperability.

Accordingly, the U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that the task force would increase preparedness for contingencies so that “we can decisively respond to crisis or aggression and reestablish deterrence in the South China Sea,” said Hegseth. He also assured the US would not introduce new US combat forces, conduct offensive operations or result in permanent military basing in the Philippines. The US has nine EDCA (or bases) sites in our country.

An Inquirer editorial of Dec. 18, 2025 sneered at so-called “ironclad” defense commitments of the US. It cited a December 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) published by the White House which seems to undercut sweet “ironclad” talk. Donald Trump's 33-page paper does not mention Manila at all.