MANILA (Bloomberg): A Democrat-led US Congress will likely continue to support the Trump administration’s help funding the Philippines’ military upgrade, according to Manila’s envoy to Washington.
"We have strong bilateral support in Congress,” Philippine ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said in a phone interview. "I am confident that all of those that we have worked on the past will continue as is.”
US defense engagements with the Philippines have ramped up in recent years over both Republican and Democratic presidencies, as Washington seeks to counter China in the region while Manila asserts its claims in the South China Sea.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced greater funding to modernize the Southeast Asian nation’s armed forces last week when he visited the Philippines for a regional summit.
The power shift in the US Congress in favor of Democrats after this week’s midterm elections however risks reining in President Donald Trump’s foreign policy decisions.
Romualdez, however, said he’s optimistic that there will be no major changes in Washington’s stance toward its military alliance with the Philippines. "Right now, they see the Philippines as one of its strongest allies,” he said. "We have friends from both sides of the aisle.”
Trump is also expected to reaffirm the US’ defense commitments to the Philippines when he visits Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit later this month, according to the ambassador.
An agreement on the US-backed AI hub in the Philippines is however unlikely to be signed during Trump’s visit, as both nations iron out details, Romualdez said. Manila is also working on legislation to institutionalize the project.
"There will be nothing on the Pax Silica,” the ambassador said, referring to the US initiative to secure AI supply chain with allies including the Philippines. "That’s being sorted, but not really sorted yet.”
Bloomberg Economics analyst Adam Farrar sees the Philippines as among those in the region with " fewer immediate points of friction” as Trump heads into his final two years. The country, along with Australia, "have limited economic disputes with Washington and have expanded security ties in line with some of the administrations regional priorities,” he wrote in a note Friday.
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