By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-19 10:36:31 | Updated at 2026-08-19 10:48:28
17 minutes ago
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim pledged to bolster Malaysia’s defences, citing concerns over a US-backed Philippine military outpost just kilometres from Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah.
Anwar singled out Balabac island in southern Palawan, where the Philippines has been upgrading strategic facilities and building a 3km airstrip.
The island is one of nine Philippine sites covered by the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which gives American forces access to designated locations and allows Washington to fund infrastructure.
“As a neighbouring country closely affected by claims over Sabah, we are somewhat concerned with the tension, even though our bilateral relations with the Philippines remain very good,” Anwar said at a budget event on Aug 18 in the capital Putrajaya.
Anwar said Malaysia could not match the scale of the military and air facilities being developed on Balabac, but needed to strengthen its own basic defensive capabilities given the increasingly complex security environment shaped by competition between the United States and China.
That could require hundreds of millions or billions of ringgit in additional spending, he said.
“At the very least, our basic defence capabilities must be strengthened,” Anwar said.
Balabac’s location, about 20 minutes from Malaysia’s Banggi island, according to Anwar, is particularly sensitive for Kuala Lumpur because of a long-running dispute over Sabah.
The Philippines maintains a claim to the territory, which joined Malaysia when the federation was formed in 1963, a claim Kuala Lumpur has firmly rejected.
While the two sides have not fought a full-scale war over the territory, the dispute has periodically strained ties.
In 2013, armed followers of a self-proclaimed heir to the Sulu sultanate invaded eastern Sabah to press the historic claim, triggering a standoff and fighting that lasted more than a month. Manila, however, did not take part in the fighting.
Despite the dispute, the two countries agreed on Aug 18 to deepen cooperation on security and economic issues, underscoring generally close ties.
Anwar is also facing an increasingly difficult political environment at home after his party faced setbacks in recent state elections, with his hold over Malaysia’s ruling coalition looking increasingly vulnerable.
The Philippine military plans to turn Balabac into a forward operating base for its air force, saying the site would significantly extend the country’s air-defence capabilities.
Manila has also fast-tracked projects there to bolster its interests in the South China Sea, where its vessels have frequent run-ins with Chinese ships.
During military drills in May known as Balikatan, US, Philippine and Australian forces practised seizing and holding the island’s airfield, while the US Army deployed HIMARS rocket launchers there and conducted live-fire strikes against simulated maritime targets offshore.
Washington and Manila say EDCA investments support combined training, exercises and military interoperability, with the US saying in 2023 it planned to allocate more than US$100 million (S$128 million). BLOOMBERG
