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Pia Lee-Brago - The Philippine Star
March 9, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of Florida businessman Lee Lipton as the new US ambassador to Manila.
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate foreign relations committee on March 5, Lipton faced questions from lawmakers on China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific and how he plans to strengthen the US-Philippines alliance.
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), who chaired the hearing, underscored the importance of the US-Philippines alliance and the need to counter what he described as China’s malicious behavior in the region.
Ricketts asked Lipton how he would support the Philippines’ transparency strategy aimed at exposing Chinese aggression in real time.
“First and foremost, I support the ironclad alliance with the Philippines. I am aware of the Philippines’ strategy and I will work with Washington to determine the embassy’s responses,” Lipton told the committee.
“My goal is to confront Chinese unlawful expansion and aggressive behavior,” he added. “We must compete with China from a position of strength.”
Ricketts noted that the Philippines has adopted a transparency strategy to expose China’s actions to the world in real time. However, he said Manila faces significant pushback from Beijing’s propaganda and disinformation machinery, which often publishes false accounts of maritime incidents before the Philippines can respond.
“The ambassador to the Philippines is one of the most consequential diplomatic assignments in the Indo-Pacific,” Ricketts said. “The Philippines is our oldest treaty ally in the region. This year represents the 75th anniversary of our Mutual Defense Treaty, which has helped anchor stability in the region.
“This role requires strengthening deterrence, deepening defense coordination and enhancing resilience. It also requires expanding our economic relationship beyond traditional trade flows. This includes prioritizing high-tech sectors and supply chain security, boosting US investment in semiconductors and infrastructure, and advancing cooperation in critical minerals,” he added.
Lipton, reportedly a golf associate of former US president Donald Trump, would be the first non-career American diplomat appointed to Manila.
He said his goal is to deepen US-Philippine security cooperation, strengthen supply chains, advance the Luzon Economic Corridor initiative, and promote fair and transparent trade through close engagement with the Senate committee, US interagency partners and Philippine allies.
“I would like to assure you that I approach this nomination with humility and seriousness, and with an unwavering resolve to uphold our ironclad alliance with the Philippines, including our shared commitments under the Mutual Defense Treaty, as well as advance the safety, strength and prosperity of the United States at a time of great consequence in the Indo-Pacific,” Lipton said in his opening statement.
Lipton’s 50-year professional career includes leading businesses in the culinary and fashion industries, building international partnerships, creating jobs, mentoring young professionals and navigating complex regulatory environments.
Lipton also claimed he developed a lasting respect for the Philippines during his early visits to the country as an entrepreneur manufacturing clothing decades ago and was impressed by the Filipino people’s energy, resilience and strong sense of family and community.
“Community and people-to-people ties have always mattered to me. The Philippines has a word that captures that spirit – bayanihan – working together for the common good,” Lipton said.
With more than $27 billion in bilateral trade in 2025, roughly 375,000 Americans residing in the Philippines, and about five million Filipinos and Filipino-Americans living in the United States, Lipton said the ties between the two countries extend far beyond security cooperation.
He also noted that Filipino-Americans are among the largest Asian-American groups serving in the US military, with around 15,000 active-duty Filipino-American service members across various branches of the armed forces.
“If confirmed, I would work to expand collaboration in other areas where our interests align – healthcare, education, semiconductors, critical minerals, energy, infrastructure, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, tourism and sports diplomacy, just to name a few – while ensuring that our economic relationship remains fair and reciprocal,” Lipton said.
