“Philippines’ Marcos Vows to ‘Strengthen’ China Ties on Beijing Trip”
Translated: The Neocons are quickly running out of places to park their dwindling number of war ships.
Marcos is following the same policy, almost, as Duterte.
Keeping his options open.
China can, if it wants to, severely pressure the Philippines. South China is an hour away as the fighter-bomber flies.
At the same time the Philippines is (finally) executing a significant arms buildup, which has been in the works for several years. The target is of course China There is a long way to go of course before it can aquire a credible defense against China. And the richer neighbors are opening their pockets, finally. Japan just offered its surplus F-15’s on a no-cost basis to the Philippines, though it remains to be seen if the Philippines can afford to operate them. The biggest Philippine weakness is air defense.
The other issue is the uncertainty about whether the US will ride to the rescue come the day. This possibility has to be accounted for by anyone in that position. That was the POV of Duterte’s Defense Secretary.
As for basing the USN, this is not likely and is not ideal. The Philippines is too close to China to make a secure base. Any US base would be in easy range of Chinese weapons, it would be useless to try to do shipyard work there in wartime.