4 US fast-response cutters deployed to Philippine EEZ
MANILA, Philippines — A senior Pentagon official said the United States deploys a rotating fleet of four fast response cutters to patrol the Philippines' exclusive economic zone alongside the Philippine Coast Guard.
Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary of war for policy, confirmed the deployment in a keynote at a Stratbase Institute event Monday, August 10.
Colby highlighted the US' continued investment in the Philippines' defense posture, at a time when Washington under President Donald Trump expects allies in the region to fund more of their own defense needs and "take responsibility for their own sovereign security."
"We are backing up those investments with concrete, visible support, including the rotational deployment of four Fast Response Cutters to actively partner with the Philippine Coast Guard in patrolling and securing its Exclusive Economic Zone," Colby said.
"By strengthening our joint posture, we are ensuring that both our nations possess the hard capabilities required to deter aggression," he added.
The US Coast Guard's deployment of its Sentinel-class cutters in the Philippines' EEZ is part of what Colby says is a "historic modernization" of the alliance between both nations.
"This is not a one-sided partnership — the Philippines is stepping up, taking the lead to defend itself, and investing more to modernize its military and coast guard," he said, adding that the country is "a model ally" under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Colby met Marcos during a courtesy call at the Malacañan Palace on Monday.
Manila is the first stop of his first official trip to Southeast Asia as undersecretary, with Jakarta, Bangkok, and Phnom Penh to follow.
Colby's visit comes as the Philippines and the United States mark the 75th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the pact that compels the two nations to come to the other's aid in the case of an armed attack.
'Not protectorates'
Colby also delivered what appears to be a warning shot at middle powers that will band together without the US.
The Pentagon official said Washington encourages allies to work together and build up their defense industries. But these efforts, he said, "should integrate and be complementary with America's — not vainly and futilely seek to exclude or supplant us."
"[We] seek partnerships, not dependencies, and we understand that countries will engage widely, just as we do," Colby said.
"But it is to counsel rejecting the delusion of fashionable but superficial ideas like middle power alliances designed to exclude America," he added.
He was similarly dismissive of new multilateral security frameworks on maritime cooperation, saying these often generate favorable headlines but should be measured by whether they produce "more ships in the water, expanded stockpiles of critical munitions, and genuine interoperability."
"[Alliances] are most durable when they are based on shared responsibility [...] rather than permanent dependency. We are looking for partners, not protectorates," he said.
Colby said countries "can no longer take America for granted" or assume the US will stay in "unbalanced relationships that are not clearly in Americans' practical interests."
The US official did not name the groupings he had in mind. But his warning came amid a growing sentiment among middle powers of the need to organize with less reliance on Washington.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, at a speech in January, urged middle powers to act collectively, warning that "if we're not at the table, we're on the menu."
Carney's remarks, which did not outright mention the US, were perceived as a veiled criticism of Washington's disregard for the rules-based order under Trump 2.0. He had mentioned "a rupture in the world order" and the havoc wrought by strong world powers.
Trump blasted the Canadian prime minister in response and said Canada "should be grateful" for the US.
Manila itself has widened its security web beyond Washington with countries also considered allies of the US. Under Marcos, the Philippines has signed four new VFAs and started formal talks with two others.
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