Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to Manila, stressing the need for regular and open engagement between Manila and Washington to ensure an “agile” response amid continuing tension in the disputed South China Sea.
Marcos has moved the Philippines closer to the United States since replacing Rodrigo Duterte in 2022.
On Tuesday, he greeted Blinken and Austin at the Malacanang Palace ahead of meetings with their Filipino counterparts, Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro. It is the first time Manila has hosted the so-called “2+2” meetings between the two countries.
“I’m always very happy that these communication lines are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, in terms of the specific context of our situation here, in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific, are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in terms of our responses,” Marcos said.
Blinken said the talks were evidence of “a steady drum beat, a very high level of engagements between our countries”.
