MANILA — Philippine defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his US counterpart Pete Hegseth met on Wednesday, February 5, to discuss defense cooperation between the two allied countries, according to Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot.

Hegseth pledged to remain in close coordination with Teodoro Jr. and reaffirmed the US' "ironclad" commitment to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Under the MDT, the two nations pledge to help each other in case of armed attack and to work together to increase their capacity to resist such attacks.

The US is the Philippines' only treaty ally. 

US defense chief believes PH-US alliance to 'transcend' changes in administrations

The two defense leaders talked about reinforcing deterrence over the West Philippine Sea which will include "working with allies and partners".

They discussed about enhancing the capabilities of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as well.

Philippines-US joint air patrols underway over West PH Sea

Teodoro Jr. recently assured the public that US support for the Philippines "remains the same" despite a change in leadership with the election of US President Donald Trump.

"In so far as defense is concerned, I am not worried at all... It [US commitment] remains the same, it remains the same in so far as my talk with the National Security Advisor [Mike] Waltz concerned. We talked about even enhancing existing partnerships," he told the media, adding that US-Philippines bilateral and multilateral defense efforts will continue or be enhanced.

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