The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is optimistic that President Donald Trump's decision to suspend the United States’ foreign development assistance to other countries will not affect the Philippines' relations with the US.
Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, AFP spokesperson, reiterated that the two countries’ military cooperation remains strong and strategic.
“We have long-standing partnerships with the US and we continue with our partnership programs moving forward,” she said Tuesday, Jan. 28.
In particular, the AFP said that the preparation for this year’s iteration of “Balikatan” exercises between the two countries’ militaries will continue as scheduled.
“At this point, in terms of our preparations, it's still business as usual.” Padilla said, referring to the largest military training between the two countries' militaries. “So far, there's no dialing down at this point.”
Following his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump immediately ordered the suspension and review of all foreign assistance by the US, which affected the Philippines.
Manila and Washington are bound by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which requires them to support each other in case of an armed attack from a third-party nation.
The MDT is enhanced by the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The VFA, which enables the Balikatan and all the other training by the AFP and US military, provides the legal basis and status protections for US military and defense civilian personnel in the Philippines while on official business.
Meanwhile, the EDCA authorizes US forces access to agreed locations in the Philippines on a rotational basis, for security cooperation exercises, joint and combined military training activities, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities. Currently, there are nine EDCA sites in the Philippines.
Last year, the US government pledged an additional $500 million on top of the $128 million funding for the development of the EDCA sites.
Padilla refused to comment on whether Trump's order would affect the pledge made by the administration of Joe Biden, saying it was a "policy question" that needs to be answered by "higher authorities".