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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
February 14, 2025 | 5:52pm
Philippine and US Marines watch as a projectile hits a target at sea during a live fire exercise against an imaginary "invasion" force as part of the joint US-Philippines annual military Balikatan drills on a strip of sand dunes in Laoag on Luzon island's northwest coast on May 6, 2024. US and Filipino troops fired missiles and artillery at an imaginary "invasion" force during war games on the Philippines' northern coast on May 6, days after their governments objected to China's "dangerous" actions in regional waters.
AFP / Ted Aljibe
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has denied making any commitments about removing a United States mid-range missile system from its territory, pushing back against Beijing's repeated claims of such a pledge.
Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson for the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, said no high-level Philippine official had promised to return the Typhon missile system, which was deployed to the country during joint military exercises with American forces in 2023.
China has been consistently vocal about its demands for the removal of the missile system, which it claims threatens regional peace and stability. The system's capabilities include cruise missiles that can reach Chinese mainland when fired from northern Luzon.
Standing firm
The Philippine government, meanwhile, says it is within its rights to keep the missile system. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro previously said the deployment and procurement of assets related to the Philippines' security and defense was not subject to "any foreign veto."
"If you look at the statement coming from Beijing, they repeatedly mention that there were such commitments. It was made to appear that the Philippine government made a commitment to them," Malaya said at a press conference on Friday, February 14.
"But we want to make it clear that we never made commitments to the [People's Republic of China]," he added.
Malaya said that while some Philippine Army officials had previously mentioned returning the missiles, these statements were not based on guidance from higher authorities.
"It would be improper for Beijing to make a statement that there was a clear commitment," he added.
The task force spokesperson added that China has mischaracterized statements about the missile system, particularly by suggesting that commitments were made by top officials such as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of National Defense, or the National Security Advisor.
China's concerns
On Wednesday, February 12, China's foreign ministry spokesperson said the continued presence of the Typhon system in the Philippines represents a "breach" of a "commitment" to ship out the missile system after its use in joint drills.
Beijing said the Philippines was endangering other Southeast Asian countries by continuing to house the missile system.
"The Philippines has worked with the U.S. to bring in the Typhon system. It’s placing its national security and defense in the hands of others and introducing geopolitical confrontation and risk of arms race into the region, which does no one good," said Guo Jiakun, spokesperson of China's foreign ministry.
The Chinese official was responding to a question that referenced President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s recent challenge to Beijing.
Marcos last month offered to remove the missile system if China ceased its "aggressive and coercive behavior in the South China Sea."
His remarks — while largely seen as rhetorical — are the strongest that the president has delivered concerning the government's decision to keep the Typhon missile system in the country.
