America’s renewed interest in the Philippines

If there’s anyone who made President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent visit to the United States possible, look no further than the Biden administration. In a briefing before Marcos’ visit, US State Department senior officials outlined what led to this visit.

First, as soon as it was clear that Marcos was the runaway winner in the May 2022 presidential election, President Biden was the first world leader to call and congratulate Marcos.

Then, Biden sent Vice President Kamala Harris and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff to lead the high-level American delegation to Marcos’ June 30, 2022 inauguration.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Manila in August.

In September, Biden met the new Philippine leader at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

Vice President Harris visited Manila and Palawan, the island province near the Philippine waters and islets being claimed by China. With that visit, she became the highest American official to visit Palawan.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III also dropped by Manila early this year.

Just before Marcos left for the US, the Philippines hosted the biggest edition of the annual Balikatan military exercises with the participation of more than 12,000 American forces, and which were held at various points of the archipelago.

At around the same time, Manila and Washington announced four additional sites for US military bases, in addition to the initial five sites, under the provisions of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

The Biden administration’s overtures have gladdened pro-American leaders in Manila, who were worried about increased Chinese influence in government under Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, and who have not been shy of their desire for the Philippines to depend on US military protection.

Apart from “ironclad” commitments from Biden that the Americans would back the Philippines in case of an attack by a foreign power, Marcos “brings home” three C-130 aircraft. This is in addition to Cyclone-class coastal patrol vessels turned over by the Americans in early April.

The US also pledged to establish an Open Radio Access Network inter-operability lab to help advance 5G technology rollout in the Philippines, support the innovation economy, and provide digital upskilling to Filipino workers.

Biden also committed to send America’s first-ever Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines, with focus on the innovation economy, clean energy, minerals, and food security. This is for US businesses wishing to tap Philippine natural and human resources.

Manila has also been chosen as the venue of the sixth US Indo-Pacific Business Forum.

To promote people-to-people contacts, the State Department said the US will welcome 2,000 exchange participants between the Philippines and America over the next 10 years through the Fulbright, Humphrey and other programs. This would produce a new generation of intellectuals and decisionmakers friendly to the US.

Americans are quite obviously guided by their own national interests. They want to gain a stronger military foothold in the Philippines, especially as tensions grow between China and Taiwan, and with the Americans seeking to defend freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea for the benefit of ships transporting both US exports and US military forces and have no choice but to pass through the area. Businesswise, they would like to expand markets and reach for US capital and goods.

Come to think of it, our location, natural resources, and people are valuable to the world.

China’s reaction has been swift, with a diplomat reported to have made controversial remarks about the possible impact on Filipino workers in Taiwan in case the problem escalates.

We can only dream, for now, that the Philippine government would be as clear-eyed and as devoted to our own national interests. The American and Chinese governments do it for their respective national interests. It shouldn’t be too much to expect that Filipino officials do the same clearly and courageously.

Come to think of it, our location, natural resources, and people are valuable to the world. If only our government discards old notions about dependence, maybe we could find an independent way forward that would make us more respected, more secure, more peaceful, more prosperous, and less viewed as mendicants.

The US and China can’t do that for us. They have their own interests to prioritize.