By Robina Asido

United States defense and foreign ministers announced the allocation of the additional $500 million assistance to finance the modernization of the Philippine military and coast guard following the 2+2 meeting in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.

"Today, as you heard, Secretary Blinken and I announced that we are poised to deliver a once-in-a-generation investment to help modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)," US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III told reporters during the joint press conference after the meeting.

"We're working with the US Congress to allocate $500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines. This level of funding is unprecedented. And it sends a clear message of support for the Philippines from the Biden-Harris administration, the US Congress, and the American people," he added.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the priorities under the 500 million dollar assistance" will be laid down in the security sector assistance roadmap" of the US and Philippines.

"We thank the US government for the continued assistance in building up our capabilities which will provide a tremendous boost in order for us to establish a credible deterrent to unlawful foreign aggression," he said.

"Every peso or dollar spent on hardening phil capabilities to defend itself and to deter unlawful aggression will be a plus against any threat actor, whether it be China or anyone," he added.

Teodoro said the additional assistance will cover "a lot of inherent hardening capabilities... like cyber capabilities and the like".

He also noted that the $500 million assistance "and all the EDCA investments will serve to secure the Philippines' credible deterrent posture."

Austin said the United States Department of Defense ":intends to more than double our investment of enhanced defense cooperation agreement locations across the Philippines."

"President Biden's budget request this year includes more than a 128 million dollar to fund important EDCA infrastructure projects and US government investment in these locations extends beyond the Department of Defense," he said.

"The US Agency of International Development (USAID) plans to preposition a vast amount of relief supplies in EDCA locations later this year, that will allow the department to work alongside our Philippine allies to ... provide humanitarian assistance in times of need," he added.

The number of EDCA sites has increased from five to nine in 2023, after the Philippines allowed the American forces to have access to four more AFP bases.

The United States has allocated over $82 million toward infrastructure investments at the existing five sites under the EDCA which includes Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Airport Base Station in Cagayan de Oro, Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Antonio Bautista Airbase in Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

The four additional EDCA sites were located at Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan. DMS