US and Philippines reaffirm security partnership under China pressure. On Monday, President Joe Biden informed Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the U.S. would defend its friend “ironclad,” particularly in the South China Sea, where Manila is under siege from China.

On his first White House visit in 10 years, Marcos stressed the importance of the U.S. as his country’s sole treaty ally in “arguably the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now.”

In a trip that marked a major change in U.S.-Philippine ties, the two nations reaffirmed their decades-old strategic cooperation to counter China’s growing aggression near Taiwan and the South China Sea.

U.S. sources claimed the leaders would establish new military and economic parameters.

“The United States remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines, including the South China Sea,” Biden told Marcos in the Oval Office.

A joint statement stated any armed attack against Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, including the South China Sea, would trigger U.S. mutual defense responsibilities under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Washington relies on the Philippines to prevent China from invading Taiwan, which it claims as its own. Manila recently granted the U.S. access to four new military locations under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Still, the two sides have not disclosed what U.S. assets will be stationed there.

The joint statement stated the leaders “affirm the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity.”

Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, strained U.S. relations by turning the Philippines away from its former colonial master and toward China.

Biden has courted Marcos, who faces a U.S. court judgment for his father’s $2 billion looting.

U.S. officials said the new instructions centered on military coordination across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace would transfer three C-130 planes and look to deploy more patrol vessels to the Philippines.

“It is only natural for the Philippines to look to its sole treaty partner in the world to strengthen and redefine the relationship that we have and the roles that we play in the face of those rising tensions that we see now around the South China, Asia Pacific and Indo-Pacific region,” Marcos said.

Marcos’ four-day U.S. visit began Sunday with the summit.

Marcos has desired good relations with the Indo-Pacific rivals China, and the U.S. Biden-Marcos did not mention China.

Experts suggest Washington may use the Philippines to resist a Chinese amphibious attack on Taiwan with rockets, missiles, and artillery.

Marcos told reporters on his plane that China had agreed to negotiate South China Sea fishing rights and that he would not let the Philippines become a “staging post” for military action.

The joint statement stated Biden would send a Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines to boost investment in renewable energy, vital minerals, and food security.

The Philippines would become a regional supply chain center by co-hosting the 2024 Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Manila with the United States.

They also looked forward to trilateral collaboration with Japan and Australia.

Many Filipinos are irritated by China’s actions in the South China Sea, particularly harassing Philippine ships and fishermen in areas both nations claim. As a result, support for a harder approach toward Beijing has risen.

Biden was the first official to contact Marcos after his election and has prioritized Indo-Pacific commercial and military connections.

Before the conference, U.S. congressmen wrote to Biden about the Philippines’ “crisis” in human rights.

Duterte’s transgressions were well-documented, but subsequent revelations demonstrated “ongoing impunity.” The Karapatan Human Rights Alliance reported 17 extrajudicial deaths, 165 unlawful arrests, and 825 political detainees from July to December 2022. According to a White House readout, the two countries addressed human rights.