Sec. Austin Pledges to Further Solidify US-Philippines Relations: 'We're Family'

Senior U.S. officials met with their Philippines counterparts at the State Department in Washington on Friday, a day after President Joe Biden met both Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in the midst of growing concern about provocative Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific. The meeting consisted of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as well as Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, and Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo M. Año. The U.S. and the Philippines have had a mutual treaty in place for more than 70 years. Secretary Austin during the discussion pledged more solidified support to his counterparts, telling them "we're family" before later meeting with their president Biden's forceful reinforcement of the American "ironclad" commitment came in the midst of persistent skirmishes between the Philippine and Chinese coast guards in the disputed South China Sea. Source: US Network Pool via Associated Press