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I don't know the current policy between he U.S. and the Phillipines,

But according to Wikipedia...

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The Empire of Japan invaded the Philippines in December 1941 during World War II,[125] and the Second Philippine Republic was established as a puppet state governed by Jose P. Laurel.[126][127] Beginning in 1942, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground guerrilla activity.[128][129][130] Atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war, including the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre.[131][132] The Philippine resistance and Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1944 and 1945. Over one million Filipinos were estimated to have died by the end of the war.[133][134] On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became a founding member of the United Nations.[135][136]:?38–41? On July 4, 1946, during the presidency of Manuel Roxas, the country's independence was recognized by the United States with the Treaty of Manila.[136]:?38–41?[137]

That's the Reader's Digest version. And being local for you, you likely know the history way better than I do. But basically, at the same time, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, took oil fields in Indonesia, and invaded the Philllippines in a pretty rapid clip. With limited U.S. forces stationed beforehand in the Phillippines, and outnumbered, Macarthur had to make a tactical retreat to avoid being captured, and later returned in 1944 to push out the Japanese.
But as they were in every country they occupied, the Japanese were awful in what they did to the Phillippine people.

As I mentioned before, I had a Phillippine girlfriend in 2001-2003, and she told me that when the Japanese invaded their rural island (Bohol) the Japanese killed every male member of her family, and raped every female in her family.

Because the Japanese were so awful to every country they invaded, they were met with heavy resistance and geurrillla fighters in every country they occupied. And Japan conscripted several hundred thousand women from these countries as basically slave prostitutes, termed "comfort women" to sexually service Japanese soldiers, many of them so abused they were no longer able to have children after the war.

The Japanese Bushido secret society were the inspiration for creation of the Nazi SS.
A book I read that gives a history of the rise of medeival Japan and its rapid consolidation into an empire and its rapid industrialization from roughly 1866-1905, and its atrocities in the 1930's in Manchuria, is documented in The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. It explains that unlike post-war Germany that was forced to educate future generations in schools about Nazi atrocities, Japanese citizens did not have to receive similar education about their war crimes, and largely remain unaware of that part of their history.

My knowledge of the beginning of U.S. involvement with the Phillippines starts with Spanish-American war in 1898, where in the treaty ending the war, Spain conceded Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Phillipines to the U.S.
For the first time the U.S. had territory outside the United States, and this was controversial inside the U.S. even then, with many in government arguing it (along with Hawaii) turned us overnight into a colonial power like the nations of Europe. For reasons I don't understand, the U.S. held control militarily over the Phillipines for several decades instead of just letting it become independent, occupied from roughly 1900-1942, until the Japanese took it. And the Phillippines got its independence after in 1945.

You can look up "First Island Chain, Second Island Chain, Third Island Chain" (mentioned earlier in the topic), to see China's imperial plans for the Pacific region, that includes not only possession of the Philippines, but Guam and Hawaii as well, that China intends to turn into concentric rings of defensive islands around China.

I understand China is in terrible shape right now politically and economically. On the one hand, that should make China more weak and reluctant to make war on anyone. But on the other hand, Xi Xiinping sabre-rattles about seizing Taiwan , and war with other countries, as a way to rally nationalist popular support within his own country. From what I've seen said by U.S. generals interviewed, China is preparing o be ready for war with Taiwan by 2027 or 2028.

Thank God Trump was elected, because he is the one presidential choice that will rapidly re-arm the U.S. military, and hopefully deter China from starting a war. As in the many videos I've posted above, some say China is already more prepared for war with us and would win, and others say China is weaker than it seems and has vulnerabilities such as dependence on imports of energy and food that could bring China to is knees in a war.
I don't want to find out, so I'm hoping for deterrence and a peaceful alternative !