The United States is set to send at least seven military assets to the Philippines pending congressional requirements as both countries join forces to counter threats in the Indo-Pacific.
Washington said it intends to transfer to Manila two Island-class patrol vessels; two Protector-class patrol vessels; and three C-130H aircraft, according to the fact sheet provided by the White House during President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s US state visit.
The US government is only awaiting applicable notification requirements from the Congress, it added.
The new batch of assets will follow the initial ones already deployed by Washington in April, which are two Cyclone-class coastal patrol vessels that are already on their way to Manila.
"These transfers will support the Armed Forces of the Philippines' (AFP) modernization program by enhancing its maritime and tactical lift capabilities," White House said.
In a meeting with Marcos at the White House, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington's "ironclad" commitment to protect the Philippines against any armed attack. That is what he and other American officials have repeatedly been saying in the past.
The pronouncement was constantly raised as China, US' main rival, continues its aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and in the West Philippine Sea.
But the US' possible deployment of new assets is not only about that.
Washington also aims to "modernize" its alliance with Manila and build a "strong and resilient architecture that is designed to meet emerging challenges, while routinizing joint planning and improving interoperability," according to White House.
Both sides also agreed to adopt a Bilateral Defense Guidelines to institutionalize the following: key bilateral priorities, mechanisms, and processes to deepen alliance cooperation and interoperability across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.
The upcoming guidelines will "support the continued modernization of the alliance and ongoing efforts to adapt alliance coordination to respond to the evolving security environment," White House said.
In the guidelines, both countries will advance efforts to deepen interoperability, particularly through enhanced bilateral planning; information-sharing; accelerated defense capability development; and collaboration on emerging security challenges.
Amid criticisms against the new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the Philippines, Washington vowed to work :closely with communities in the vicinity...to fully realize their positive value for local development and for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief."
"To that end, the United States will expand our work in these communities and areas to support health, education, environmental protection, economic growth, and disaster preparedness," White House said.
Marcos pushed for strengthened military alliance with the US as he met Biden during his first state visit there. The reason for which was that the Philippines found itself in "arguably the most complicated geopolitical situation in the world right now."
"And so it is only natural that — for the Philippines to look to its sole treaty partner in the world, to strengthen and to redefine the relationship that we have and the roles that we play in the face of these tensions that we see now around the South China Sea and the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific region," he said in his opening statement.