PH, US discuss more missiles, military equipment, intelligence Sharing - Romualdez

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Philippines and the United States are holding talks not only on the possible deployment of more US missile systems but also on providing other military equipment and boosting intelligence-sharing, Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said.

Romualdez said the discussions form part of a larger push to strengthen interoperability following last month’s bilateral meeting between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and US President Donald Trump.

“But more importantly, on the defense side, I think we have had the biggest visiting forces exercises and we're probably going to have a couple of that before the end of this year,” he said in an interview with NewsWatch Plus.

“And as you mentioned, the deployment of missiles. But these are actually ongoing talks that are just part of a bigger picture where we will do what we can to have interoperability in terms of training our soldiers to be able to use some of the equipment that the US may make available for our armed forces. So that's essentially what this thing is all about,” he said.

When asked to confirm whether talks on additional missile systems were underway, Romualdez said the discussions also cover a wider range of capabilities.

“We're not only talking about missile systems but more importantly, other types of equipment that we'll be able to use for our defense,” he said.

“Part of our defense strategy and at the same time, part of our alliance with the United States. It's not just the defense of the missile systems but also probably other equipment in relation to intelligence gathering and so forth and so on,” he added.

He added that these efforts fall under the decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement, and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Manila and Washington.

Asked if any tangible results could be expected within the year, Romualdez said the goal is to pursue “peace through deterrence.”

“We will have a lot more of these types of situations where there is peace through deterrence,” he said.

The talks come amid heightened tensions in the West Philippine Sea following recent maritime incidents involving Chinese vessels and aircraft near Philippine-held waters.