MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday, January 13, that he was “confident” that Washington, Tokyo, and Manila would “continue working together to enhance and deepen trilateral ties,” as its primary convenor, outgoing US President Joe Biden, prepares to step down from his post.

Marcos, Biden, and Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met Monday morning via video conference for a meeting meant to affirm their bilateral and trilateral commitments.

“I am confident that our three countries will continue to work together closely to sustain the gains that we have made in enhancing and deepening our ties,” said Marcos, according to a release from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

The PCO also quoted Biden as saying the three countries had made “historic progress in our trilateral partnership, especially in areas of maritime security, economic security, technology cooperation, and high-quality infrastructure investments.”

“We should continue to deepen our cooperation in these areas, I believe,” said the outgoing American President, according to the Malacañang release.

“Simply put, our countries have an interest in continuing this partnership and institutionalizing our cooperation across our governments so that it is built to last. I’m optimistic that my successor will also see the value of continuing this partnership, and that it is framed the right way,” said Biden, according to the Malacañang release.

It was Biden who hosted the first-ever trilateral leaders meeting between the three countries in the White House in April 2024. The meeting was largely seen as an expected progression of the existing relationship between the Western superpower and two of its key allies in Asia, amid the actions of an expansionist China.

By January 22, Marcos will be the sole attendee from the original leaders’ summit still in power. Biden will be stepping down on January 21 to make way for former president Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Ishiba took over in September 2024, after former prime minister Fumio Kishida resigned amid corruption scandals within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Both the Philippines and Japan have reported Chinese incursions, either at sea or in the air. Beijing claims the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands, as well as most of the South China Sea, including areas where the Philippines has sovereign rights.

Biden, said Malacañang, commended Marcos for the Philippines’ diplomatic response “to China’s aggressive and coercive activities in the South China Sea.”

Confrontations between Manila and Beijing in an area the former calls the West Philippine Sea often turn dangerous — the most precarious being an incident in June 2024 when China Coast Guard personnel boarded and destroyed the rubber boats of elite Philippine soldiers during a mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a Navy ship marooned in Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal.

That incident led to the Philippines and China agreeing on a “provisional agreement” governing the shoal. No incident has been reported since the agreement was announced in July 2024.

Even as tensions in the region remain high, there’s also uncertainty over how a new Trump administration would engage with Indo-Pacific countries, and who it will deal with its fellow superpower China.

While several of Trump’s presumptive picks for key Cabinet posts are seen as supportive of the Philippines and its partnership with the US, the President-elect himself has said little about China and the South China Sea. – Rappler.com