A senior Philippine military official has confirmed to This Week in Asia that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will visit Manila later this month, making him the highest-ranking official from President Donald Trump’s administration to visit the country.
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“Hegseth will visit on the 28th of this month,” Army Brigadier General Michael Logico said on Friday.
His visit is seen as an important step in strengthening alliances in the Asia-Pacific region amid rising geopolitical tensions, and will take place just before Balikatan, the annual large-scale joint military exercise involving US and Philippine forces, scheduled for April 21 to May 9. This year’s drills will involve 16,000 troops from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, and Britain.
Logico also confirmed speculation that this year’s Balikatan would feature the US-made Typhon missile system, a weapon capable of targeting areas near China’s coast.
Hegseth’s visit meant Washington was “expressing very keen interest in the exercises”, Logico said.
He also said that, despite concerns in Manila over the United States’ recent policy shifts – such as the suspension of aid to Ukraine – military relations between the Philippines and the US remained “business as usual”.