Virgilio Lorenzo Jr

PH, US defense chiefs reiterate commitment to military alliance

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Top defense officials of the Philippines and the US have reaffirmed their countries&#x27; &quot;ironclad&quot; commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Department of Defense said in a release Sunday.</p><p>Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met on the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore as they also marked the 75th year of the alliance. </p><p>At the meeting, Teodoro &quot;underscored the Philippines’ strong support for the US’ commitment to strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific&quot; and highlighted the alliance is proof of &quot;the robustness of US partnerships in the region.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/24/us-led-pax-silica-for-resilience-industrialization-not-war-teodoro-1355">US-led Pax Silica for resilience, industrialization not war – Teodoro<br/></a></div><p>The DND said the US &quot;reaffirmed its commitment to support the monitoring of the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone and expressed continued support for the Philippines’ defense interests.&quot;</p><p>The Philippine and US militaries have been holding annual military exercises as part of the MDT and of the Visiting Forces Agreement.</p><p>The militaries of Japan, Australia, and other like-minded countries have also participated in the Balikatan exercises in recent years.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/4/ph-us-japan-forces-simulate-coastal-defense-repel-mock-invasion-in-laoag-drills-1650">Balikatan 2026: PH, US, Japan forces simulate coastal defense, repel mock invasion in Laoag drills<br/></a></div><p>&quot;Reaffirming both countries’ shared commitment to information, communications, and cyber security, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Indo-Pacific Command renewed the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement for another 15 years,&quot; the DND also said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YfKbtv4XpJ0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Top defense officials of the Philippines and the US have reaffirmed their countries' "ironclad" commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Department of Defense said in a release Sunday.</p>

Top defense officials of the Philippines and the US have reaffirmed their countries' "ironclad" commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Department of Defense said in a release Sunday.