The start of construction on a bilateral Combined Coordination Center in the Philippines in mid-November 2024 signifies the strength of the long-standing Philippines-United States alliance and comes amid continued illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive tactics by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underscored continued U.S. support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to bolstering the Philippines’ defense capabilities and its capacity to resist coercion, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The coordination center is part of that commitment.
“This center will sharpen our operational coordination and strengthen our ability to respond rapidly to crisis,” Austin said after the groundbreaking ceremony. Philippine National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called the facility “a fusion center for joint, combined activities in the future, bilaterally, which we need for interoperability, given our shared threats and shared interests in the area.”
The center, set to open in 2025, will enable information sharing and allow the allies’ forces to operationalize exercises to enhance joint readiness and test emerging capabilities.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Capability (PMTEC) program team, part of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s J7 Joint Training and Exercises Directorate, helped secure funding and facilitated design coordination for the center.
“Overall, PMTEC investments, operations and activities symbolize deepening ties and a strong partnership between the Philippines and the U.S., reflecting a commitment to regional stability and security,” Dr. Andre J. Stridiron III, PMTEC program manager, told FORUM.
The groundbreaking ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo came the same day Teodoro and Austin signed a pact that allows the countries to share classified military information and technology. The agreement will serve as a foundation for further enhancing interoperability and paves the way for additional security agreements, the DOD said.
The nations’ mutual defense treaty dates to 1951 and can be invoked if either comes under attack.
“And let me say again that the mutual defense treaty applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, aircraft or public vessels, including our coast guards, anywhere in the South China Sea,” Austin said.
The Philippines is among several nations facing increasing PRC aggression in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship-borne commerce. Beijing claims almost all of the waterway as its territory and continues to ignore an international tribunal’s 2016 ruling that there is no legal basis for the claims.
In early December 2024, Chinese coast guard vessels backed by People’s Liberation Army Navy ships fired powerful water cannons at and blocked and sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard reported. The U.S. condemned the dangerous maneuvers, which disrupted a Philippine maritime operation and endangered lives, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said on social media.
