(CNN) — President Joe Biden is expected to welcome Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House this week as part of continued efforts to strengthen security and economic relations between the US and the Philippines amid regional concerns over an increasingly assertive China.
Senior administration officials described new steps and initiatives that will be announced this week, including a new set of bilateral defense guidelines to strengthen the alliance and the transfer of US hardware – including three C-130 aircraft and additional patrol vessels – to support efforts to modernize Manila’s armed forces.
Other initiatives expected to be announced include a US trade mission to the Philippines later this year and $3 billion in public and private financing to buttress infrastructure for critical minerals, according to the officials.
As part of Biden’s meeting with Marcos, he will also reaffirm Washington’s “ironclad” security commitment to the Philippines, the officials said. A 1951 mutual defense treaty stipulating that both sides would help defend each other if either were attacked by a third party remains in force… Read More