US promises the Philippine military more security cooperation money but names no figure

The United States will increase the security cooperation funds its war department spends on modernising the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. when the two met in Cebu on Wednesday, 28 October, according to a US Department of War readout. The department said the extra money is meant to accelerate the AFP's modernisation and to improve interoperability between the two militaries along the First Island Chain.

Neither the readout nor later accounts put a figure on the increase. GMA News reported that the department did not specify the size of the rise, and the South China Morning Post reported that the Pentagon disclosed neither the amount of the new funding nor a timetable for a related coordination initiative.

A command and control sprint

The two ministers also agreed to launch what the US side described as an alliance command and control modernisation sprint, intended to improve real-time bilateral coordination and make the alliance more resilient, GMA News reported, citing the readout. The meeting covered progress on security cooperation, alliance modernisation and posture initiatives as the allies continue to strengthen their defence partnership.

Hegseth and Teodoro also welcomed progress in making sites under the bilateral Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement operational, including investment in critical infrastructure and storage facilities across the Philippines, according to the same report. The SCMP described the outcome as part of a wider effort by Washington to strengthen its defence posture along the first island chain.

What Manila said it wanted

Before the talks, Philippine defence department spokesperson Arsenio Andolong told reporters on 27 October that strengthening the alliance was the broad goal, but that the discussions would probably reach operational levels, Philstar reported. He described Washington as a strong partner in the modernisation of the armed forces and in future capacity and capability building, and said outcomes are usually decided when the two sides actually meet.

Philstar noted that the Cebu trip is Hegseth's second visit to the Philippines, after his first trip to Manila in March 2025. At last year's ADMM-Plus in Kuala Lumpur, Hegseth and Teodoro announced a new Task Force Philippines aimed at deterring coercion in the South China Sea, and Hegseth has since pressed Asian allies to carry more of their own defence needs.

The wider Cebu meetings

The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the 20th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and the 13th ADMM-Plus, which the Philippines is hosting in Cebu on 28 and 29 October. The ADMM-Plus brings ASEAN members together with eight dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

In separate talks the same day, Hegseth and Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi agreed to speed up efforts to use facilities flexibly and to run exercises that practise operating from dispersed locations, the SCMP reported, citing the Pentagon.

For now the pledge is a direction rather than a budget line. Until Washington publishes the size of the increase and a schedule for the command and control work, it is not possible to judge how far the new money will change the pace of Philippine military modernisation, a gap that both GMA News and the SCMP pointed out in their reports.