Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is planning to visit the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in the state of Hawaii this month, people familiar with the matter told Nikkei.

Marcos is slated to stop in Hawaii after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in San Francisco from Nov. 15 to Nov. 17, the sources said.

The president is expected to meet with Adm. John Aquilino, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at the headquarters in Pearl Harbor on Oahu island, along with other military leaders across the services.

Planning is underway for Marcos to give a security policy speech during his visit.

A head of state visiting a foreign military's regional commander is unusual in terms of diplomatic protocol. But it comes amid a heated standoff between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea and is likely intended to signal Manila's proximity to the U.S. The Philippines is one of Washington's five treaty allies in Asia, alongside Japan, South Korea, Australia and Thailand.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington and the Indo-Pacific Command declined to comment.

Separately, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to engage his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro on the sidelines of the ASEAN defense ministers meeting in Jakarta slated for Nov. 16.

The high-level engagements come as tensions between the Philippines and China soar, including an incident on Oct. 22, when Chinese vessels collided with Philippine boats near the Ayungin Shoal, or Second Thomas Shoal, in the South China Sea.

The U.S., Japan, Australia and European countries condemned China for dangerous behavior, but the China Coast Guard accused the Philippines of violating international marine law and threatening the safety of Chinese ships.

Adm. John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, speaks at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.    © Reuters

The U.S. military has moved vessels and aircraft in and near the Philippines since the collision. U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed America's "ironclad" commitment to defend the Asian ally.

"With both Aquilino and in his speech on security, Marcos will likely raise the recent clashes the Philippines has had with China in the South China Sea. I imagine he'll call for closer cooperation and coordination on that matter as part of growing defense ties," said Elina Noor, a senior fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"But with Aquilino, Marcos may also seek further discussion or a briefing on details related to the expanded sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement," she said, referring to the four additional bases the Philippines allowed the American military to access in February.

The Philippines routinely resupplies a small military contingent on a grounded World War II-era warship on an atoll known as Sierra Madre, a symbol of Manila's maritime claims in the Spratly Islands. China rejects the Philippine claims and tries to harass Manila's ships attempting to carry food and other supplies to the warship.

Meanwhile, in Washington, analysts are calling for a more sustained effort to help Manila.

Eric Sayers, a nonresident fellow at American Enterprise Institute and a former special assistant to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (now Indo-Pacific Command), said the U.S. should consider a multiyear economic and security assistance package for the Philippines.

"A five-year memorandum of understanding commitment, the same tool we use with Israel, Egypt and Jordan, would let Washington and Manila implement a clear plan for enhancing our alliance during the Marcos government and beyond," he said.

One model is the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership that the U.S. renewed with Jordan in September 2022. The fourth such memorandum stipulated that the U.S. provide Jordan with $1.45 billion per year, beginning in fiscal 2023 and ending in fiscal 2029.

The memorandum represents "a major commitment to Jordan's stability and the durability of the strategic partnership," according to a joint government statement.

"Our commitments in Asia go far beyond the Taiwan challenge alone. Manila is a critical partner situated in a consequential geographic position along the first-island chain," Sayers said. "It is time our government aligns resources equal to the opportunity and challenge at hand." 

Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Washington think tank Hudson Institute, said, "Under President Marcos, Manila has surprisingly moved away from China's Belt and Road Initiative inducements and toward a closer alliance with the United States and a strengthened partnership with Japan. China thus now has an extra incentive to penalize the Philippines for making choices unfavorable to Beijing's influence."

Cronin added, "If the Philippines stays the course and receives steady support from the United States, Japan and other like-minded countries, it can keep China's encroachments in check. Manila needs to build up its coastal and air defenses, but the aim should be to embed greater national capabilities within a networked security framework that checks aggressive behavior."

But amid calls to in effect "lock in" the Philippines to the Western side, Carnegie's Noor cautioned that it may not be that easy.

"The Philippines is already a U.S. treaty ally and how much more it can be 'locked in' will depend equally on the Philippines' appetite and interest," she said.

"Manila will have to account for differing political opinions, domestically, well as its own relationship with China as an important trading partner. Even though the U.S.-Philippines relationship includes health, educational, and humanitarian assistance, the security and defense relationship often takes center stage," she noted. "The question is whether both sides can round out those ties in a sustained manner given other priorities Washington may have, especially in the 2024 election year."

On Friday, the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Dewey carried out freedom of navigation operations around the Spratlys, the U.S. Navy announced. Although the passage is unlikely to be a direct response to the collision, it is aimed at deterring China from expanding and solidifying effective control in the South China Sea.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for South China Sea littoral nations," U.S. 7th Fleet spokesperson Luka Bakic said in a statement.

The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier arrived in Manila in late October, while a U.S. B-52 strategic bomber flew over the South China Sea, drawing a Chinese fighter jet within 10 feet of the bomber.