By Shirin Bhandari | 2025-10-02

Security ties between the Philippines and Vietnam are gaining strength as they team up to confront growing challenges in the South China Sea.

The countries dispute China's claims to more than 80% of that sea.

Philippine navy chief Vice Admiral Jose Maria Ambrosio Ezpeleta and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Thanh Nghiem September 23 conferred in Manila, reaffirming their commitment to expand cooperation through joint activities, humanitarian assistance and regular dialogues.

The visit underscored the growing importance of their partnership as they navigate the numerous rival claims on and tensions over the South China Sea.

Seven countries border that sea.

"We are maritime neighbors with quite a short distance from each other. As we say in Vietnam, the more we meet, the better we understand each other," Nghiem said, according to local Philippine media. He added that the two countries "share common interests, as well as difficulties, which we must address together for peace and stability."

Praising the success of the Philippines–Vietnam Personnel Exchange held in the Spratlys in July, Nghiem emphasized the need to sustain such initiatives. "This is a very good result and good coordination between our navies," he said.

Humanitarian ties

The humanitarian dimension of cooperation was a recurring theme.

Since 2011, the Philippine navy has rescued 23 Vietnamese fishermen, while the Vietnamese navy has saved 60 Filipinos at sea.

Ezpeleta expressed his appreciation for Vietnam's support, especially in rescuing Filipino fishermen. "We already have a very good relationship. We help each other in many ways, particularly now that we share the same issues and concerns," he said.

"Hopefully, we can find ways to ease the pressures in our waters while further strengthening this partnership."

The totals of rescued fishermen highlight the benefits of naval cooperation for communities as well as for security, both leaders said.

The partnership is shifting from symbolic gestures to concrete, operational steps, say analysts. Relations "have moved beyond symbolism towards practical cooperation," Tran Thi Mong Tuyen, a fellow at the Pacific Forum, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The partnership is "evolving towards operationally meaningful cooperation," she said. If sustained, initiatives such as naval port calls or ship-to-ship dialogues "could make the Vietnam-Philippines partnership a model of practical maritime collaboration in the South China Sea."

A crucial time

The timing of the rapprochement is crucial. In 2026, the Philippines will chair the ASEAN security bloc, enabling Manila to lead regional economic and political initiatives while shaping collective responses to security challenges.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already signaled that enacting a binding code of conduct in the South China Sea will be a priority. With Vietnam sharing this goal, their partnership could provide momentum for ASEAN consensus on one of the bloc's most divisive issues.

Closer Philippine-Vietnam coordination could encourage other ASEAN states like Malaysia and Brunei to align with them.

Manila and Hanoi "must encourage the formulation of the code of conduct among willing ASEAN states and security partners outside ASEAN as a baseline for a bigger and final code of conduct with China," Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said, according to the SCMP.

Those two countries "can be expected to synchronize their positions," Phan Xuan Dung, research officer at Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, added.

Closer ties with Vietnam reflect Manila's broader strategy of diversifying its security partnerships. Beyond its treaty alliance with the United States, the Philippines in recent years has strengthened defense cooperation with Japan, Australia and India, while opening dialogue with Taiwan on trade. This multilateral approach stands in contrast to Vietnam's "four no's" policy: no military alliances, no siding with one power against another, no foreign bases in Vietnam and no preemptive strikes.

China's double standard

China's reactions reveal a double standard.

Beijing treats Manila more harshly than it does Hanoi because the Philippines has deepened its US alliance and exposes Chinese actions through "assertive transparency," Derek Grossman, a political scientist at the University of Southern California, wrote in Foreign Policy in September.

Vietnam's quieter approach has spared it similar retaliation even though it is busy expanding its own artificial islands in the Spratlys.

This difference, Grossman said, reflects both political systems and foreign policy choices.

"Manila could try to behave more like Hanoi, but that would be anathema to the Philippine people," wrote Grossman.

In their eyes, "giving up resistance to China would be tantamount to surrender."