Austin’s visit was seen as a last-ditch effort to reaffirm Philippine-US defense ties

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, A reporter

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III’s visit to Manila this week is a last-ditch effort by the Biden administration to strengthen its security ties to the Philippines as Washington moves into another Trump presidency, security analysts said over the weekend.

“I think he will assure his hosts that the US commitment to the Philippines remained strong during the Trump administration, and he has no reason to think that will change in Trump 2.0,” Raymond M. Powell, a fellow at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, said in an X message.

He described the outgoing Secretary of Defense as a “lame duck” with only two months left before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.

“That doesn’t make him weak, but it reduces what he can achieve as he has two months left on the job,” said Mr.

The US Department of Defense said last week that Mr. Austin in Manila aims to explore deeper security ties and ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

He will meet with his Philippine counterparts to “advance security goals with Philippine leaders,” the statement said.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. he told reporters last week that relations between the two countries will not change under Trump’s leadership.

The US is the Philippines’ main security partner, with a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty obliging both countries to defend each other in the event of an armed attack.

Under President Joseph R. Biden, Washington reiterated that the agreement covers any attack on Philippine ships, personnel and other assets in the South China Sea or anywhere in the Pacific.

In April, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty and Democrat Senator Tim Kaine pushed a bill that increased US military aid to the Philippines to $500 million from $40 million over five fiscal years through 2029.

“This is the last effort of the Biden administration to ensure that all the security agreements signed and negotiated between the US and the Philippines will continue in their effort that before the new administration takes over things will continue to exist,” Aaron Jed Rabena, who specializes in politics and foreign policy at the University of the Philippines Asian Center, he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Last year, the Philippines granted the US access to four other military bases under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo “Gibo” C. Teodoro, Jr. on Tuesday he said that China is putting a lot of pressure on the Philippines to give up its sovereignty rights in the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines have sparred several times this year over disputed areas in the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, one of Asia’s most contested areas.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 billion in annual trade. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled that China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing rejected.

In another development, The Philippines Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro urged Poland to support Manila’s efforts to ensure that international law is respected amid maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea after meeting with international relations experts in Warsaw, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“He invited Poland to consider joining the chorus of like-minded countries that have publicly expressed support for Philippine efforts to uphold the rule of law in the South China Sea, including calling on all parties to abide by the final and legally binding Arbitral Award of 2016. Award,” the organization said in a statement, citing his roundtable discussion on global issues at the Polish Institute of International Affairs or Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych (PISM) Warsaw, Poland on November 15.

At the roundtable meeting, Ms. Lazaro also spoke to PISM’s international news analysts and researchers about world issues, especially those in the Asia-Pacific region and the current world order.

“Undersecretary Lazaro emphasized that the Philippines shares the same values ​​of human rights, law and regulations based on international laws with the European Union and its member countries,” according to the DFA.

Jarosław Szczepankiewicz, the charge d’affaires of the Polish Embassy in Manila, earlier said that Poland is open to participating and observing joint military exercises with the Philippines and its allies in the South China Sea amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and deputy ministers in September met with their Philippine counterparts to explore deepening bilateral relations.