The United States Congress has approved $2.5 billion in new security assistance for the Philippines, securing five years of military funding as tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea and across the Indo-Pacific.
The funding was approved under the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, a $900-billion Pentagon policy bill passed by the US Senate on December 17 and now awaiting the signature of US President Donald J. Trump.
The legislation authorizes up to $500 million a year in foreign military financing grants for the Philippines from fiscal years 2026 through 2030, bringing the total package to $2.5 billion. The measure locks in long-term defense support for Manila at a time of sustained confrontations in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines and the United States have been treaty allies since 1951 under the Mutual Defense Treaty, which obligates both sides to respond to an external armed attack, including incidents occurring anywhere in the South China Sea. The two countries also operate under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, first signed in 2014 and later expanded to nine agreed military locations in the Philippines that allow rotational access by US forces.
The defense assistance is provided under the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act, a bipartisan measure introduced by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine. The bill is intended to strengthen Philippine military capabilities and improve interoperability with US forces.
“As the United States and the Philippines face growing challenges to security and prosperity in the West Philippine Sea and the wider Indo-Pacific, it’s critical for our two nations to deepen cooperation,” Hagerty said in a joint statement released after the bill’s passage.
Despite the treaty commitments, uncertainty remains over how Washington would respond if tensions in the South China Sea escalate into a wider conflict, as China continues to push expansive sovereignty claims over disputed features in the area.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Manila in March on his first overseas trip, where he reaffirmed what he described as an ironclad commitment to the Philippines under the treaty. Hegseth told President Bongbong Marcos that the Philippines’ status as the United States’ only treaty ally in the region made the country a strategic priority.
China has steadily increased military patrols and harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea under the Marcos administration, despite a 2016 international arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing’s territorial claims.
