(UPDATE) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to visit the Philippines, the first stop in his first trip to Asia next week, for talks that will include increasing deterrence against aggression in the disputed South China Sea, Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said Friday.
Hegseth will be in Manila on March 28-29 to meet his Philippine counterpart, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
