US Defense chief to Marcos: US committed to ‘ironclad’ alliance with PH
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits President Ferdinand Marcos at the Malacañang Palace on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Screenshot from RTVM Livestream)
MANILA, Philippines — United States (US) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday said that the US administration is committed to continue its “ironclad” alliance with the Philippines.
This is what Hegseth told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the former’s courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace as part of his Indo-Pacific tour.
During the meeting, Hegseth said that US President Donald Trump “thinks very fondly of this great country” and “is very committed to the alliance that we have.”
“He and I both want to express the ironclad commitment we have to the mutual defense treaty and to the partnership, economically, militarily, which our staffs have worked on diligently for weeks and weeks and months,” Hegseth added.
Marcos also expressed his optimism that Hegseth’s visit in the country “will be extremely productive” and important in navigating the future “considering how complicated geopolitics has become.”
“Your visit to the region, and especially the fact that you have come to the Philippines as your first stop, is a very strong indication and sends a very strong message of the commitment of both our countries to continue to work together, to maintain the peace in the Indo-Pacific Region within the South China Sea,” Marcos told Hegseth.
Hegseth also met with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, and US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson.
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The US Embassy in Manila announced the arrival of Hegseth in the Philippines on Thursday night.
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The embassy in an earlier statement said that Hegseth’s visit to the country aims to “advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with US and Philippine forces.”
Hegseth is also scheduled to visit the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters at Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Friday.
