WASHINGTON, D.C.

—The Philippines and the United States intend to strengthen their alliance under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). (Photo courtesy of PCO)
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III and Department of National Defense Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). According to the officials, the goal  is to strengthen interoperability, through infrastructure improvements; enhanced joint use of facilities; advancement of maritime security, maritime domain awareness, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities; and rotational US access to agreed locations under the updated EDCA. The moves to enhance these aspects dovetail with the countries' shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.  The officials also recognized that both countries need to improve bilateral planning and information sharing, increase vigilance against transnational and non- conventional threats, and contribute to global and regional security. "Recognizing that threats may arise in several domains – including land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace – and take the form of asymmetric, hybrid, and irregular warfare and gray-zone tactics, the guidelines chart a way forward to build interoperability in both conventional and non-conventional domains," both leaders stated. The two Defense chiefs said the guidelines reaffirm that an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces – which includes their Coast Guards – would invoke mutual defense commitments under Articles IV and V of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. Austin and Galvez agreed on modernizing defense capabilities through close coordination to identify priority defense platforms and armed force packages that will bolster combined deterrence capacity. They will also aim prioritize the procurement  of interoperable defense platforms sourced from US programs and Philippine national defense procurement and funding initiatives as well as expand exchanges, exercises, and  operations activities.