US to provide Phl $500 M in military aid

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will announce $500 million in foreign military financing for the Philippines to help its oldest treaty ally in Asia bolster its defenses, the US Department of Defense said.

- PIA LEE-BRAGO

Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet their counterparts Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo - for the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue tomorrow.

The Philippines and the US will discuss ways to deepen coordination on shared challenges, including in the South China Sea, when the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries meet for the 2+2 Dialogue to be held in Manila for the first time.

Austin and Blinken will also build upon recent strides in the long-standing US-Filipino defense relationship.

The two countries have designated four new US rotational access sites in the Philippines as part of the 2023 expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement which was first signed in 2014.

The nine sites are designed to strengthen combined training, exercises and interoperability between the two countries.