US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III is welcomed by Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo at Aguado Mansion at the Malacanang compound in Manila on Feb. 2, 2023. KJ Rosales, PPA/Pool
MANILA — The Philippines should cooperate with the United States amid Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, a security analyst said Thursday.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III, who arrived in Manila on Tuesday night, is set to meet President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his counterpart.
"It's a reaffirmation of the American alliance with Manila," Dr. Chester Cabalza, founding president of the non-profit policy research group International Development and Security Cooperation, told ANC's "Rundown".
"Basically, we really need to cooperate with Washington right now because of the vulnerability that is happening in our own backyard, particularly in the Taiwan Strait that is close to northern Philippines and what is happening in the South China Sea, particularly the West Philippine Sea," he added.
Cabalza said Austin's second trip to the Philippines could also be a reaction to Marcos' recent visit to China.
Beijing and Manila have vowed to resolve maritime disagreements through consultation.
Cabalza noted the Palace had been practicing a neutrality policy. "This is the best time for us to perhaps think what's the best interest for the Philippines," he said.
Washington and Manila are expected to announce a deal that will give US troops access to another 4 military bases in the Philippines.
The 2 countries have a decades-old security alliance that includes a mutual defense treaty and a 2014 pact, known by the acronym EDCA, which allows US troops to rotate through 5 Philippine bases, including those near disputed waters.
It also allows for the US military to store defense equipment and supplies on those bases.
Under the EDCA expansion to be unveiled Thursday, the US will have access to at least 9 military bases across the archipelago.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored a ruling at the Hague that its claims have no legal basis.
China also claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be reclaimed one day, by force if necessary.
— With a report from Agence France-Presse