Senior Philippine and US government officials have met in Washington for a strategic dialogue, where they agreed to further expand ties, modernize alliance and partner up with other like-minded countries amid various regional challenges and threats at sea.

Following the conclusion of the 11th Philippines-United States Bilateral Strategic Dialogue from April 22 to 23, the two sides vowed to work together to address pressing regional challenges.

That would be done through holding the fourth “2+2” ministerial dialogue; convening inaugural joint committee meeting under US-Philippines Science and Technology Agreement; establishing a working group to replace the Defense and Security Working Group; and establishing inaugural bilateral dialogues on cyber-digital, space, and democracy.

They also agreed to deepen collaboration on countering foreign information manipulation.

Noting the “increasingly complex security environment,” the two sides, according to their joint statement, committed to advance defense ties through the following:

• Concluding the bilateral Philippines – Security Sector Assistance Roadmap (P-SSAR);
• Fully finalizing the addition of sites and implementing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), to include Department of Defense (DoD) investing $128 million for infrastructure as part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget;
• Prepositioning USAID disaster relief commodities for Philippine civilian disaster response authorities at key EDCA sites;
• Concluding a General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) by the end of 2024; and
• Expanding multilateral cooperation with likeminded countries, including through maritime cooperative activities, bilateral and multilateral exercises, and security cooperation coordination.

The Philippines and the US, reiterating the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award, also decided to take the following actions:

• Convene the 3rd Maritime Dialogue in September/October 2024 in Manila and build upon the outcomes of the countries’ prior dialogues and meetings;
• Explore additional opportunities to strengthen global support for upholding the international law of the sea
• Deepen cooperation to strengthen efforts in addressing Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, in line with relevant international law and voluntary guidelines; and
• Consider and develop, as appropriate, procedures and protocols on cooperative maritime law enforcement operations, in accordance with international law and our respective national laws

They then called on China to comply with international law and stop aggressive and dangerous actions.

The Philippines and the US expressed opposition to the use of threat of force against territorial integrity or political independence of any state as they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

They also expressed commitment “to advance a free, safe, and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive, prosperous, secure, and based on international law, and that protects shared principles including territorial integrity; sovereignty; sovereign rights and jurisdiction; and the peaceful resolution of disputes,” their statement read.