MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have affirmed the strength of their respective countries’ alliance and the United States’ “ironclad commitment” to the Philippines.
In a readout on Wednesday (US time), State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio spoke to Manalo about issues of mutual concern, including China’s dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea.
Rubio conveyed that China’s behavior undermines regional peace and stability and is inconsistent with international law.
“The Secretary underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines under our Mutual Defense Treaty,” Bruce said in a statement.
The secretaries also exchanged views on ways to advance security cooperation, expand economic ties for shared prosperity, and deepen avenues for further regional cooperation.
Manalo said he and Rubio “discussed the importance of the Philippines-US alliance for the prosperity and security of the Indo Pacific, and the strength of our bilateral political, economic, and people-to-people ties.”
“We look forward to working with Secretary Rubio and his team towards addressing challenges and sustaining the momentum and positive trajectory in our bilateral relations,” Manalo wrote on X.
Rubio met on Tuesday with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Washington and discussed plans to deepen ties during the Trump administration, and how the US and Japan can work together to counter ongoing threats in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.
He also met with the foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific Quad, including Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya, who were in Washington to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
French aircraft carrier to visit Philippines
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the French Navy, will visit the Philippines for a port call next month, France’s top diplomat in the Philippines said yesterday.
“I am especially proud and honored to announce the upcoming visit of the French Aircraft Carrier group named Charles de Gaulle to the Philippines one month from now,” French Ambassador Marie Fontanel said during a forum on maritime security partnerships hosted by the French embassy.
Fontanel said Charles de Gaulle will visit the Philippines for the first time. She added that French aircraft carrier group’s visit to the Philippines next month for a historic port call aligns fully with the letter of intent signed by the defense ministers of the two countries in December 2023.
“It underscores France’s commitment to strengthening its
involvement alongside the Philippines and will facilitate numerous joint activities with the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” she said.
The French Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is spearheading the French Navy-led multinational biennial exercise La Perouse 25 that began last week across three critical maritime passages in Southeast Asia.
The French CSG, consisting of carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R91), destroyer FS Forbin (D620), frigates FS Provence (D652) and FS Alsace (D656), fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier (A725) and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, is conducting a deployment to the Indo-Pacific called Clemenceau 25, which began in the last week of November 2024.
Trespassing
Since deploying another patrol vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has been challenging the presence of the China Coast Guard (CCG) in the West Philippine Sea every hour, Commodore Jay Tarriela reported yesterday.
PCG’s 44-meter multi-role response BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) replaced another 44-meter multi-role response vessel BRP Suluan (MRRV-4406) last Wednesday at around 65 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales, he wrote in his statement.
Just when Cabra arrived, it saw CCG vessel with bow number 3304 approaching another CCG ship with bow number 3103 also patrolling not far from the PCG ship.
“However, as BRP Suluan made its way back to Subic, Zambales, CCG-3304 also retreated further from the coastline,” Tarriela noted.
While in its current position, Cabra was “engaged in hourly radio communications with CCG-3103 to remind them of their violations of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award,” he added.
BRP Cabra was the first PCG ship to be deployed in the area of the West Philippine Sea in Zambales that challenged the patrols of the CCG’s “monster ship” 5901, which started last Jan. 4.
Also, BRP Teresa Magbanua and 83-meter BRP Gabriela Silang took turns in guarding the West Philippine Sea against China’s trespassing.