Philippines a strategic winner when Trump takes the helm

MANILA – After years of negotiations and delays, the United States and the Philippines have finally signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which will facilitate sensitive intelligence-sharing and cybersecurity cooperation in anticipation of a regional conflict with China.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin finalized the much-anticipated agreement during a week-long visit to the Philippines, during which the defense chief also made the first public acknowledgment of a new joint task force formed to check China in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

Established to prevent a forcible Chinese takeover of the Philippines’ de facto military base on the contested Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin in Filipino), the new US Task Force-Ayungin has been providing direct US operational support to the Philippine Navy and other relevant agencies.

“Task Force-Ayungin enhances US-Philippine alliance coordination and interoperability by enabling US forces to support Armed Forces of the Philippines activities in the South China Sea,” Kanishka Gangopadhyay, spokesperson at the US Embassy in Manila, said in a statement acknowledging the task force’s existence.

Meanwhile, Philippine officials welcomed the GSOMIA as a critical step to facilitate the Southeast Asian nation’s “access to higher capabilities and big-ticket items from the United States” and to pave the way for “similar agreements with like-minded nations” in the region, including fellow US allies Japan, South Korea and Australia.

The US and Philippines also inaugurated a new combined coordination center at Camp Aguinaldo, which houses the Philippines’ key military facilities and Department of National Defense headquarters. The new facility is