President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III during a courtesy call in Malacanang on November 18, 2024. Revoli S. Cortez, PPA pool

MANILA (UPDATED) — The United States “has secured another million dollars” to aid Filipinos who fell victim to “six significant storms” that barreled across the Philippines in recent weeks, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday during his courtesy visit to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang. 

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The US is also looking forward to discuss “how we could make additional assistance at this time,” the outgoing American Defense chief said as he extended Washington’s condolences and prayers for “those who’ve been disadvantaged by these six significant storms that have taken place in a very short period of time.”

“I have authorized US troops and all the Philippine forces to provide life-saving aid to the Filipino people,” Austin told Marcos Jr.

“The US has also secured another million dollars in urgent humanitarian aid and that will enhance the work of the USAID and the World Food Programme,” he said. 

“That’s in addition to the nearly 100,000 pounds of supplies that we delivered after the typhoon,” he added.

VISION OF EDCA

Austin underscored that the vision of using Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites as a hub for prepositioning relief goods ahead of calamities “has come true.” 

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“It was your (Marcos’) vision a while back for these sites to be used to do exactly what you’ve described: prepositioning supplies, food, and other elements, other personal elements in times of urgent need,” Austin told the Philippine President.

“It would enable us to serve the Filipino people much faster, much more efficient. And that your vision has come true. So, we’re glad we’re a part of that,” he said. 

Marcos Jr. thanked Austin for his visit, and agreed that the Philippines' disaster response improved due to the availability of more EDCA sites.

"We were able to do a better job than we would have done otherwise because of the EDCA sites which would have aided our missions and to the benefit of those who had been isolated," he said, noting that "many areas can only be reached by helicopter… because of landslides."

"They served as staging areas actually for, before, when we know that a storm is coming, we prepositioned as many assets, material as we can, as close as possible as possible not to damage the actual resources that we have," he said.

"I would just like to remind every one of the wisdom in knowing and how it has become really useful in the face of these uncertain times."

Austin’s visit to Malacañang comes days after former US President Donald Trump won his White House comeback, sparking worries that Washington might diminish its military and humanitarian aid for Manila and other allies.

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Despite the incoming US administration’s protectionist policy, Austin underscored that Manila and Washington’s relationship in the “the past 40 years has enabled our alliance to grow stronger and better.” 

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Before his trip to Malacañang, Austin met with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to ink an intelligence-sharing agreement to facilitate an enhanced, expanded, and timely sharing of information, as well as deeper defense technology cooperation between the two governments. 

Teodoro and Austin also led the ground-breaking ceremony of the Combined Coordination Center at Camp Aguinaldo, a facility envisioned to be a “vital nexus for our joint operations, a gateway for information sharing and strategic coordination.”

“I would like to [underscore] our ironclad commitment to the Philippines,” Austin said in his speech in Camp Aguinaldo. “We are more than allies. We are family.”

Marcos Jr. thanked the American Defense chief for traveling to Manila to forge closer military cooperation between Manila and Washington, noting that the visit would entail discussions "concerning the different issues that are facing both our countries, especially on the economic front and certainly the military front."

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