Secretary Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo,[...]

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good morning, everyone. Secretary Manalo, Secretary Teodoro, Advisor Año, wonderful to welcome you here to the State Department. Today's meeting follows the meeting between our presidents yesterday and the historic trilateral meeting with President Marcos, Prime Minister Kishida, and President Biden.

And I think today's meeting - an unprecedented 3+3 - reflects the growing and deepening cooperation between our countries on a broad array of issues, and of course our shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Seas. We very much welcome this opportunity to pursue that cooperation, collaboration, and of course we stand with the Philippines in our ironclad defense commitments, including the Mutual Defense Treaty.

Ricky, with that, let me welcome you and give you the microphone.

FOREIGN SECRETARY MANALO: Thank you very much, Tony. Good morning, Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. A great pleasure to be here with my colleagues. As you mentioned, in a way today's meeting of the 3+3 is also a historic meeting, as it follows on the heels of the even more historic trilateral summit yesterday.

I just wanted to mention that we attach a lot of importance to this meeting, especially in the light of recent developments in the South China Sea, especially China's escalation of its harassment resulting most recently in the injury of four Filipino seamen. But more importantly is we are determined to assert our sovereign rights, especially within our economic - Exclusive Economic Zone, and in accordance with the UNCLOS and the arbitral ruling.

I think our meeting today will enable us to hopefully be in a better position to coordinate our responses, both diplomatic and on the defense and security fronts in relation to any actions in the South China Sea, whether they're positive or negative, including in the Ayungin Shoal.

So we also hope that this 3+3 meeting will be a regular event, and also reinforce our regular Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, as well as our ongoing maritime dialogue. And finally, we do underscore the need to continue further clarificatory discussions on the MDT, as we think this would also help in deterring further escalation by China. Thank you.

SECRETARY AUSTIN: Thanks, Tony. Good morning, and it's great to be here with everyone. It's a - this is a historic meeting. It's the first time that all six of us have gathered to discuss the diplomatic and defense priorities at the heart of our alliance. Under the leadership of President Biden and President Marcos, our alliance is stronger than ever. And today, we'll discuss a whole-of-government vision for this alliance.

We all know that our shared security relies on strong military bonds, shared economic opportunities, and robust people-to-people ties. And at the Department of Defense, we're working in lockstep with our colleagues at the Department of National Defense, to strengthen interoperability between our forces, to expand our operational coordination, and to stand up to coercion in the South China Sea. And our commitment - as Secretary of State said just a couple of seconds ago, our commitment to our Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines remains ironclad.

And later today, I'll be hosting President Marcos at the Pentagon, and I'll share with you what I'm going to tell him, and that is that the United States and the Philippines are more than allies - we're family. And thanks again, and I look forward to a great discussion.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary.

DEFENSE SECRETARY TEODORO: Thank you, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin, our honorable counterparts and colleagues. Following from what Secretary Austin had already said, it's indeed an honor to represent the Department of National Defense of the Philippines in this historic meeting today.

And it will be an opportunity to have a fresh, open, and candid discussion of our departments' objectives in line of the broader strategy of a free and open Indo-Pacific, because this is the area where our interests converge. And in doing so, we hope that the family becomes a stronger family with bonds of a shared vision, not only for today but for the future generations. Thank you very much.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SULLIVAN: Well, I want to thank my Philippines counterparts for being here. I want to say I'm honored to be at this unprecedented 3+3 meeting. And our presidents, each of our presidents, tasked us to work across our governments and then to work across this alliance to make sure that we not only reaffirm the alliance between the U.S. and the Philippines, but we put the alliance commitments at the heart of it into practice, that we operationalize it, that we execute it, and that we do so entirely in lockstep. So I look forward to the discussion today.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR AÑO: Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, NSA Sullivan, first allow me to thank the United States Government for hosting the historic inaugural trilateral leaders summit yesterday. I'm honored for the opportunity to be part of the whole process that began during the inaugural trilateral national security advisors meeting in Tokyo last June.

Seizing this momentum, we are now here for another milestone - the first bilateral 3+3 ministers meeting. So thank you also for hosting this occasion, and I look forward to our insightful and fruitful discussions. This will further concretize our deepening security partnership and enduring alliance, grounded on shared democratic values and aspirations of our peoples, with activities carefully curated to achieve our collective goals.

Thank you, and magandang umaga.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, everyone.

Tags