Malacañang confirmed that President Marcos will attend a virtual meeting with United States President Joseph Biden and Japan Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, signifying the three countries' commitment to the trilateral agreement they formed last year.

In a message to Palace reporters, acting Communication Secretary Cesar Chavez confirmed that the trilateral phone call is scheduled on Sunday, Jan. 12.

He, however, refused to divulge further information about the upcoming meeting.

A Reuters report said Biden will host the virtual meeting during his trip to Rome.

The Philippines, the United States, and Japan formally established the trilateral maritime cooperation on Apr. 12, 2024. The deal aims to safeguard said countries' peoples at sea as their leaders expressed concern about China’s dangerous and coercive actions in the South and  East China Seas.

Marcos, Biden, and then-Japan prime minister Kishida Fumio said in April last year that their nations’ Coast Guards will collaborate even further within the next year “to improve interoperability and advance maritime security and safety.”

They added that they will advance their defense trilateral cooperation through combined naval training and exercises among themselves and with other partners, among others.

On another occasion in Manila in April last year, President Marcos said the trilateral agreement between the Philippines Japan, and the USA is one of the building blocks of peace and stability that is good for the region.

The two nations are working to strengthen their trilateral engagements with the US, which include defense, economic, and technology, among others.

"These are building blocks that I think are good for the region, for our countries of course, but for the region," he said.

"Let’s just do the work to continue to keep the peace, which is to make the most important part of all that we do," he added.

Marcos stressed that when it comes to foreign policy and geopolitics, the most important thing was to "find a way to keep peace,” while responding to the actual situation.

Marcos, Biden, and Kishida met for the first time at the White House in Washington, D.C., in April 2024. President Marcos described the meeting as “a continuing evolution” of the relationship between the three countries.

“Now, I think it is important for me to make clear that this, the trilateral agreement, is not something that is only about convenience, or because there is a new situation, I really view it as a continuing evolution of our relationship with both countries, with the US and Japan,” he Marcos said.

“And, this is evidenced by the fact that a large part of the agreement is on economic proposals, and economic assistance and partnership between the three countries. Security and defense, of course, are there. But that is not the main point of the trilateral agreement,” he added.