US, Philippine defense chiefs meet for talks in DC

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomed his Philippine counterpart, Delfin Lorenzana, to the Pentagon Monday for bilateral talks. The U.S. and the Philippines recently completed large scale joint military exercises.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 exercise to be canceled. It also severely limited last year's exercise. Monday, the two top diplomats spoke about deepening the U.S.-Philippine alliance.