The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has dismissed speculation that the United States might withdraw military hardware from the Philippines to support operations in the Middle East.
AFP spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad clarified that reports of Washington redeploying Patriot missile batteries and parts of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) from South Korea do not affect U.S. assets stationed in the Philippines.
“There are no indications of the US pulling out military assets from the Philippines,” Trinidad said.
“The situation in South Korea involves specific air defense systems being redeployed to the Middle East, which is a separate theater arrangement and does not apply here,” he added.
Trinidad emphasized that the local military environment remains stable and noted that the alliance between the Philippines and the United States continues to strengthen.
“The upward trajectory of the RP-US alliance is manifested in our continuing maritime activities, strengthened MDB-SEB (Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board Meeting) engagements and the recent approval of the Philippine Enhanced Resilience Act authorizing $2.5 billion in security assistance over the next five years,” he said.
Passed by the United States Congress in late 2025, the Philippine Enhanced Resilience Act (PERA) provides $500 million annually in foreign military financing until 2030 to help modernize the AFP’s coastal defenses and long-range strike capabilities.
The Mutual Defense Board–Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB), the primary military planning body of both countries, has also approved more than 500 joint activities for 2026.
Trinidad also addressed concerns about the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites, stressing that they remain Philippine military bases.
“EDCA sites are Philippine bases with facilities dedicated to mutual defense and humanitarian assistance, and are not to be used as staging areas for offensive operations,” he explained.
Under the agreement, the United States has access to nine strategic locations across the archipelago for prepositioning equipment and building facilities that remain under Philippine ownership.
The AFP maintained that EDCA sites primarily enhance interoperability between the two militaries and improve rapid disaster response capabilities.
“Our alliance with the US continues to strengthen and there has been no change in the level of support being provided,” Trinidad emphasized.