Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. is optimistic the United States will honor its commitments to the Philippines amid recent sweeping orders from
President Donald Trump to stop funding US foreign assistance programs.
“We’ll see, but I’m very optimistic that the trajectory of existing agreements will not change,” Teodoro said late Tuesday. “In our conversation, Mr. Waltz emphasized that the commitment remains the same, and we discussed enhancing existing partnerships,” according to the Philippine defense chief. Under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former US President Joe Biden, the Philippines and the United States strengthened their defense cooperation to ensure safe and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea.
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