Washington is set to deepen its defence support for the Philippines after approving billions of dollars for a loan and a grant to its Southeast Asian ally next year to counter what an American senator has called “serious threats” from China and its partners.
Philippine defence officials have welcomed the approval by the House and Senate in Washington as further evidence of the US commitment to their alliance, even as analysts caution that the bill under the US National Defence Authorisation Act falls short of what Manila would need to build a credible deterrence against China.
The bill will be presented to US President Donald Trump for his signature.
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The Philippines will be offered a US$1 billion loan repayable in 17 years and up to US$2.5 billion worth of “grant help”, with the latter stretching over five years at US$500 million annually starting in March.
Washington will also provide defence support to Japan, Australia, and other allies to strengthen bilateral training exercises and combined patrols, multilateral security cooperation, capacity-building and information-sharing.
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Singapore, which was described as a “major security cooperation partner of the United States”, and Thailand were mentioned in the bill, but were not allocated any loan or aid.