Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed the United States’ “ironclad commitments” to the Philippines under the newly installed administration of US President Donald Trump in his phone call with Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
(From left) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo (AP, DFA)
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed the phone call in a statement, while Manalo also shared about his conversation in an X (formerly Twitter) post.
“The Secretary underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines under our Mutual Defense Treaty. The Secretaries also exchanged views on ways to advance security cooperation, expand economic ties for shared prosperity, and deepen avenues for further regional cooperation,” Bruce said.
Rubio officially took office after US President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
In the statement, the US State Department’s spokesman also shared that Rubio and Manalo spoke “about issues of mutual concern, including the PRC’s dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea.”
“Secretary Rubio conveyed that the PRC’s behavior undermines regional peace and stability and is inconsistent with international law,” she added.
In his post, Manalo said he took the opportunity to congratulate Rubio in his appointment as state secretary and expressed confidence that the two allies will work to address common challenges.
“We discussed the importance of the PH-US alliance for the prosperity and security of the Indo Pacific, and the strength of our bilateral, political, economic, and people-to-people ties,” the DFA chief wrote.
“We look forward to working with Secretary Rubio and his team towards addressing challenges and sustaining the momentum and positive trajectory in our bilateral relations,” he added.
The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) is a defense pact that states the activation of US’ defense in case of an armed attack on Philippine territory and waters.
This, along with other defense and military agreements with the United States, supports the Philippines’ strong stance against China in their territorial and maritime disputes in the resource-rich West Philippine Sea.
China’s aggressive actions in the region in the past years have become a point of contention for its neighboring countries, whose exclusive economic zones (EEZs) Beijing claims as its own.