U.S.-Philippines security relations

Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said yesterday that six projects are slated for completion by the end of the year.

The 2+2 meeting of defense and foreign ministers coincided with the opening of the largest-ever iteration of the annual Balikatan military exercise.

This is the first such meeting to take place since late in the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

The U.S. military will be granted access to three additional military facilities in the northern Philippines, and one on the island of Palawan in the South China Sea.

Chinese officials took the opportunity to voice their opposition to a recent expansion of the U.S. military presence in the Philippine archipelago.

The rapid warming of relations with the U.S. has prompted warnings from Beijing, and domestic political pushback.

The upgrade at Manila's Basa Air Base is part of $82 million in U.S.-funded infrastructure upgrades at military bases included under a 2014 defense pact.

The Chinese embassy in Manila said that the expansion of EDCA "will seriously harm Philippine national interests and endanger regional peace and stability."

Both nations have a strong incentive to maintain the pact, but next year's election could complicate matters.

With the unwinding of the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the utility of Washington’s oldest alliance in the Indo-Pacific hangs in the balance.

Continued engagements and a refocused agenda, rather than the separation of ties, characterize the alliance today.