More US missile system deployment in Philippines eyed

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and the United States are looking into the possible deployment of more missile systems and other defense equipment to the country.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, in an interview with NewsWatch Plus, said talks are underway to make it happen as early as this year.

Like how the Armed Forces of the Philippines was able to train with the Typhon and NMESIS missile systems during the past two Balikatan Exercises, he said the deployment of more defense equipment to the Philippines will help train Filipino soldiers on how to use such systems that the US can make available to the military.

“We’re not only talking about missile systems but, more importantly, other types of equipment that we’ll be able to use for our defense, part of our defense strategy, and at the same time part of our alliance with the United States,” Romualdez said.

“So it’s not just the defense, the missile systems, but also probably other equipment in relation to intelligence gathering and so forth and so on,” he added.

According to Romualdez, all of it is part of the country’s decades-long mutual defense treaty agreement with the US.

“Well, definitely, as (US Defense) Secretary Pete Hegseth said when he came to Manila last March, or was that earlier than that, there was an agreement that we will have a lot more of these type of situations, where it is peace through deterrence is the exact wording that was used not only by Secretary Hegseth but even in the White House itself, the White House also mentioned that peace through deterrence is what we are after,” he said.

Asked about how China is again expected to react negatively as it did when the US deployed and allowed the Typhon and NMESIS missile systems to remain in the country, Romualdez mentioned China’s continuing aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as an ongoing concern.