[12] The first permanent settlement of Filipinos was in Louisiana in 1763;[13] the settlers there were called "Manilamen", and they served in the Battle of New Orleans during the closing stages of the War of 1812, supporting the Americans against the British Empire.

[citation needed] In the Second World War, the Filipinos formed a close alliance with the United States to resist Japanese occupation -- they became independent on July 4, 1946.

[32] During an official visit to Vietnam on September 28, 2016, he explicitly expressed his desire to end the Philippines' joint military exercises with the United States.

[38] Bongbong Marcos, president since June 2022, appears to be attempting to normalize relations with the United States in part due to China's geostrategic rise and the need to cooperate on the economy.

During Marcos's working visit to the United States on September 18–24, top financial officials secured investment pledges of $4 billion and 100,000 jobs for the Philippines.

Biden pledged to help the Philippines with energy and food security,[44][40] reiterating that message during the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Cambodia during the week of November 9–13, 2022.

President Marcos Jr. stated that the summit would include discussions on an agreement to maintain security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

[56] By 1991, operations at Clark had already been scaled back as the Cold War ended, with the last combat aircraft leaving in 1990 before the base was heavily damaged by the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

The Anti-Bases Coalition, founded by senators Jose W. Diokno and Lorenzo Tañada, led the call to end American military presence in the country.

Agencies formed by the Philippine Government converted the former military bases for civilian commercial use, with Subic Bay serving as a flagship for that effort.

[citation needed] Key events in the bilateral relationship included the July 4, 1996, declaration by President Ramos of Philippine-American Friendship Day in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Philippine independence.

[citation needed] On February 7, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte officially ordered the termination of the VFA as a response to an accumulation of a series of "disrespectful acts" by a few US senators directed against the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines.

[68] The annual Balikatan ("shoulder-to-shoulder") bilateral military exercises contribute directly to the Philippine armed forces' efforts to root out Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists and bring development to formerly terrorist-plagued areas, notably Basilan and Jolo.

[citation needed] The International Military Education and Training (IMET) program is the largest in the Pacific and the third-largest in the world, and a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) was signed in November 2002.

[citation needed] USAID programs support the Philippines' war on poverty as well as the government's reform agenda in critical areas, including anti-money laundering, rule of law, tax collection, and trade and investment.

[citation needed] In 2006, the Millennium Challenge Corporation granted $21 million to the Philippines for a threshold program addressing corruption in revenue administration.

Importantly, the Preamble notes that both parties "share an understanding for the United States not to establish a permanent military presence or base in the territory of the Philippines".

[citation needed] Key exports to the U.S. are semiconductor devices and computer peripherals, automobile parts, electric machinery, textiles and garments, wheat and animal feeds, and coconut oil.

[citation needed] Since the late 1980s, the Philippines has committed itself to reforms that encourage foreign investment as a basis for economic development, subject to certain guidelines and restrictions in specified areas.

[citation needed] Under President Ramos, the Philippines expanded reforms, opening the power generation and telecommunications sectors to foreign investment, as well as securing ratification of the Uruguay Round agreement and membership in the World Trade Organization.

[citation needed] As noted earlier, President Arroyo's administration has generally continued such reforms despite opposition from vested interests and "nationalist" blocs.

[73] In April 2022, U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, together with Dutch shipbuilder consortium Agila, bought out the HHIC Philippines facilities at Redondo Peninsula near the Subic Bay Naval Base in Zambales.

[40] U.S. government officials headed by Vice President Kamala Harris pledged increased aid and investment opportunities to the Philippines on renewable energy, critical minerals supply, women's rights and education, public health and immunology, SpaceX Starlink broadband, and, in the first agreement of its kind, nuclear power planning and American nuclear tech sales.

[89] As of 2012, a U.S. military contingent of 600, including Navy Seals and Seabees are stationed "indefinitely" in the Southern Philippines, in a declared non-combatant role to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines in operations against the al-Quaida-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group primarily on the island of Basilan in western Mindanao and the Sulu islands, in particular Jolo, a long-time stronghold of Abu Sayyaf.

[90] The Scarborough Shoal standoff with China and the ongoing Spratly Islands dispute has caused the Philippines to consider stronger military ties with the United States.

[100] In 2017, the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG) handed over weapons to the Philippine Marine Corps, including 300 M4 carbines, 200 Glock 21 pistols, 4 M134D Gatling-style machine guns, and 100 M203 grenade launchers, according to a statement made by the U.S. embassy in Manila on June 5.

[101] In February 2019, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed his country's commitments under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) during a meeting with counterparts in the Philippines.

Pompeo in a speech added, "as the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels will trigger mutual defense obligations".

[103] The move came after years of American reluctance to affirm commitments, which led to numerous Filipino politicians to push for review of the 68-year-old security pact between the Philippines and the U.S.

[47][48] However, the governors of Isabela and Cagayan—which together host three of the bases—expressed dismay at the agreement, stating they did not want their provinces to pay too much for the infrastructure improvements or become potential targets of Chinese nuclear attack.