Defense agreements between the Philippines and the USA will remain unchanged even under US President Trump. This was confirmed by Philippine Ambassador Jose Romualdez in the USA on Monday, as reported by Reuters. He was responding to a question about the USA’s security support for the Philippines.
Last month, the United States released 336 million US dollars in previously frozen foreign aid for the Philippines. It was part of a larger aid package worth USD 500 million to modernize the Philippine military, said Romualdez. The United States and the Philippines are working together on patrols in the South China Sea. In addition, US forces are using Philippine defense facilities and have moved a Typhoon missile system to the Philippines for training purposes.
Tensions between the Philippines and China had recently intensified after the Philippines arrested eight Chinese citizens. Four of them are believed to lead civil society groups with ties to the Communist Party. These groups had donated 500,000 pesos (around USD 8,600) to the mayor of Tarlac. The Philippine government is now investigating these donations.