By: Aaron Mehta
HONOLULU — As the defense ministers from the ASEAN nations gather for a Friday meeting in Hawaii, all eyes are on the interaction between US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Philippine Minister of Defense Delfin Lorenzana.
While other issues will be on the table, including concerns over Chinese actions in the South China Sea and worries that Islamic State militants might return to Southeast Asia from Syria, the military relationship between the US and the Philippines will be front and center following comments from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
In his first few months in office, Duterte has issued a string of insults to US President Barack Obama and has questioned the 60-odd-year-old military alliance between the two nations.
Earlier this month, Duterte announced he was cancelling all future military exercises with the US. But the Pentagon still plans to invest in building up a quintet of military facilities in the Philippines and does not appear concerned about a cut off for military exercises.
A spokesman for the US Marine Corps told sister publication Marine Corps Times that the service is “still expected” to take part in PHIBLEX, an annual training exercise with the Philippine military.
Speaking aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in San Diego on Thursday, Carter called the relationship between the two nations “ironclad.” Carter also highlighted the work the Philippines is doing with regional partners on counter-piracy operations as an example of Pacific nations “coming together on their own by establishing bilateral and trilateral mechanism.”
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