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The Philippines
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Is the Philippines becoming a US ‘proxy’ against Beijing in the South China Sea?

  • Ex-president Duterte’s light-touch approach is out, with Manila and Washington now united in opposing ‘maritime expansionism’, analysts say
  • But some fear the Philippines will become ‘the ants that get trampled on’ as the potential for a US-China conflict heats up in the disputed waterway

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A service member from the Philippine Navy keeps watch as a US littoral combat ship sails past during a joint “maritime cooperative activity” in the South China Sea on February 9. Photo: Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Command / Handout via AFP
Alan Robles
Concerns are growing among some in the Philippines that closer military ties with the United States are turning the Southeast Asian nation into a “proxy” for American interests against China, as the two superpowers jostle for influence.
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Tens of thousands of Filipino and American troops took part in a series of joint drills last year and the exercises have continued into 2024, with the latest – a “maritime cooperative activity” in the South China Sea held on February 9 – the third such training manoeuvre in four months.

“We are rehearsing,” said Colonel Michael Logico, director of the Philippine Armed Forces Joint and Combined Training Centre, referring to exercises aimed at boosting interoperability with US forces and familiarising Filipino soldiers with the latest weaponry.

A US soldier supervises as a Filipino serviceman fires an anti-tank round during a joint army-to-army exercise between the Philippines in Nueva Ecija province last year. Photo: AFP
A US soldier supervises as a Filipino serviceman fires an anti-tank round during a joint army-to-army exercise between the Philippines in Nueva Ecija province last year. Photo: AFP

“On a scale from one to 10, I would rate it at 11 if not 12,” he told This Week in Asia, describing the strength of the Philippine-US alliance. “In the course of a year, at any time … we have exercises going on.”

It constitutes quite the reversal for a relationship that had soured under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who initially sought closer ties with China and wanted to pare down America’s military presence and involvement in combat drills.
At one point, he even threatened to scrap a key pact, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), that enables American troops to jointly train in the Philippines, in a fit of pique after one of his associates had a US visa denied. Duterte later backed down amid pressure from the Philippine military, and as billions in promised Chinese investments failed to materialise.

Defence analysts say Manila and Washington are now united in their opposition to Beijing’s “maritime expansionism” in the South China Sea, which the latter claims almost in its entirety.

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