The Philippines (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 30, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF10250 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Thomas Lum, Ben Dolven |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The United States and the Republic of the Philippines
maintain a deep relationship that includes a bilateral
security alliance, extensive military cooperation, close
people-to-people ties, and many shared strategic and
economic interests. U.S. administration of the Philippines
as a colonial territory (1898-1946), which followed 300
years of Spanish rule, shaped the relationship. Situated east
of the South China Sea and south of Taiwan, the
Philippines has long played an important role in U.S. Asia
policy as a close security and counterterrorism partner. The
1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) requires the two
countries to help defend each other against external armed
attack. The Biden Administration made revitalizing U.S.
alliances in Asia—including with the Philippines—a key
pillar of its Indo-Pacific Strategy. Rising tensions between
the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
over maritime claims are a potential regional flashpoint
The United States is the Philippines’ third-largest trading
partner, after China and Japan, and its largest export
market. The Philippines is one of 14 members of the IndoPacific Economic Framework Initiative, which the
Administration launched in May 2022.
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was elected president of
the Philippines in 2022. Marcos’s father, Ferdinand Marcos
Sr., ruled the country from 1965 to 1986, including through
martial law from 1972 until he was ousted by the 1986
People Power Revolution. Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of
former President Rodrigo Duterte (in office 2016-2022),
won the vice presidency. The Philippine constitution limits
both the president and vice president, who are elected on
separate tickets, to one six-year term. In 2024, DuterteCarpio resigned from the Marcos cabinet, reflecting
growing strains in their relationship. (The move does not
affect her status as Vice-President.)
During President Marcos’s visit to Washington, DC, in May
2023, the two allies established new Bilateral Defense
Guidelines, which aim to help modernize Philippine
defense capabilities, deepen interoperability, enhance
bilateral planning and information-sharing, and combat
transnational and nonconventional threats. The guidelines
appear to reinforce treaty obligations, stating that an armed
attack “anywhere in the South China Sea,” on either party’s
“armed forces—which includes both nations’ Coast
Guards—aircraft, or public vessels, would invoke mutual
defense commitments” under the MDT.
