Outlook on U.S.-Philippines Alliance in the Philippine Sea and the Pacific Islands

On March 12, Leland Bettis, Director of the Guam-based Pacific Center for Island Security (PCIS), provided a briefing on growing maritime activity across Micronesia, including a notable surge in PRC research vessels in the Philippine Sea. The presentation drew on PCIS’s Micronesia Security Monitor, a visualization tool launched in 2025 to track maritime and geopolitical developments across the region stretching from the Philippine Sea to Kiribati.

Discussion ranged from implications for the U.S.-Philippines alliance of evolving security dynamics in the Philippine Sea to lessons from Guam’s civil-military experience relevant to implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Participants included Embassy of the Philippines Deputy Chief of Mission Felipe F. Cariño III, leading think tank analysts, and business representatives active in the Philippines and Guam.