(30 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Manila, Philippines – 30 July 2024
1. News conference with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Philippine Foreign Secretary, Enrique Manalo, and Philippine Defense Secretary, Gilberto Teodoro Jr
2. Austin, Blinken pan right to Manalo and Teodoro
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State:
"Both of us share concerns and many other countries in the region share concerns, as well, about some of the actions that the People’s Republic of China has taken, escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and elsewhere. This is something that we heard much about from our colleagues in the recent ASEAN meetings – defiance of the 2016 arbitral tribunal decision, coercive methods being used in the seas."
4. Wide of presser
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense:
"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 and the Philippine Coast Guard. We are working with the US congress to allocate 500 million dollars in foreign military financing into 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.”
6. Various of US and Philippine secretaries shaking hands
7. Various of Austin, Blinken, Manalo and Teodoro linking hands for group photo
STORYLINE:
Washington’s top diplomat and defense chief announced $500 million in military funding Tuesday to boost Philippine defenses and progress on a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact as both allies renewed their concerns over China’s continuing aggressive actions in the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has fortified Manila’s decades-old treaty alliance with Washington as hostilities between Philippine and Chinese forces flared since last year in the disputed South China Sea.
Marcos hailed “very open” communication lines between Washington and Manila, adding that the two countries’ treaty alliance and key issues in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region “are continuously examined and reexamined so we are agile in terms of our responses."
Marcos has underscored the need for a U.S. military presence for Asian stability and peace.
After meeting their Philippine counterparts later, Blinken and Austin announced the $500 million military funding to help in an ongoing modernization of the Philippine military and coast guard.
“Both of us share concerns and many other countries in the region share concerns, as well, about some of the actions that the People’s Republic of China has taken, escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea,” including “coercive methods,” Blinken said in a joint news conference.
He renewed a warning that the U.S. would help defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea.
The U.S. officials also offered condolences over the dozens of deaths wrought by typhoon-worsened monsoon rains in recent weeks and announced an additional $1 million in aid for the victims and to help devastated communities recover.
The $500 million in U.S. military financing would include funding for reinforcing the Philippine navy’s capability.
AP Video by Joeal Calupitan
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