MANILA — Malacanang on Thursday said the possible sale of $5.58 billion worth of US F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines is meant to beef up the country’s defense and is not “for any specific target or state.”

This comes after Beijing claimed that the Philippines is “threatening “regional peace” with its procurement of fighter jets.

“As far as the details are concerned, I have no awareness of that. But the principle of it, the Americans would give us the material for a defensive force, a defensive stance. That’s okay because the details would be worked out still. But that is not for any specific target or state. It is for our defensive posture,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a Palace interview.

National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya meanwhile said that the proposed sale is part of the commitment of the Trump administration's “ironclad commitment to the defense of the Philippines.”

“If you will remember, (Defense) Secretary Hegseth said in a joint statement with Secretary Teodoro that the United States will deploy additional advance military capabilities to the Philippines for joint training, enhanced interoperability and defense industrial cooperation,” Malaya said in a separate Palace briefing.

“So, we see this announcement by the US Defense Cooperation Agency as the implementation, the initial implementation of that joint statement between the two defense secretaries. We should note that the F-16 is the most advanced fourth generation fighter in the world. And if this sale pushes through, it will be a significant upgrade to our current arsenal," he added.