The volatile geopolitical situation and fallout from US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan underlines the importance of the US-Philippines relationship, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Saturday. Marcos , meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the presidential palace in Manila, said his visit was timely, but he believed Pelosi’s trip “did not raise the intensity” of a situation that was already volatile. Blinken is the highest-ranking US official to travel to the Philippines since the inauguration of Marcos, the son of the late strongman who Washington helped flee into exile in Hawaii after a 1986 “people power” uprising. He assured Marcos the United States would honour its commitments to their decades-old joint defence pact. “The alliance is strong and I believe can grow even stronger,” Blinken told Marcos. Beijing’s war games after Pelosi’s Taiwan trip spark South China Sea concerns “We are committed to the mutual defence treaty we are committed to working with the Philippines on shared challenges.” As regional tensions rise, Washington is keen to preserve its security alliance with Manila, which includes a mutual defence treaty and permission for the US military to store defence equipment and supplies on several Philippine bases. It also allows US troops to access certain military bases in the country. The Philippines is a fulcrum of the geopolitical rivalry between the US and China and Marcos faces a tricky challenging in balancing his country’s ties between the two major economic powers. US-Philippines ties were shaken by overtures towards China by Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte , his frequent outbursts over his disdain for Washington and his threats to downgrade their defence ties. Blinken’s visit to the Philippines came amid rising tensions, fierce rhetoric and a demonstration of Chinese military power around Taiwan stemming from Pelosi’s visit to the self-governed island, which China regards as its sovereign territory. Marcos said Pelosi’s trip “just demonstrated … the intensity of that conflict.” “We have been at that level for a good while, but we have sort of got used to the idea,” he told Blinken ahead of a closed-doors meeting. Blinken later held a virtual meeting with the Philippines foreign minister, Enrique Manalo, who is recovering from Covid-19. Manalo said Washington was “an important ally, partner and friend”, but also stressed to Blinken the need for calm to prevail as tensions mount over Taiwan, an island just 260km from the Philippines mainland. If goading Beijing with Taiwan drama is the US’ goal, leave Asean out of it “The Philippines continues of course to look at the big powers to help calm the waters and keep the peace,” Manalo said. “We can ill afford any further escalation of tensions in the region.” Blinken said peace and security was a challenge the US had to deal with everywhere, but it “determined to act responsibly, so that we avoid crisis, we avoid conflict.” Like other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( Asean ), the Philippines does not formally recognise Taiwan and has shown no appetite for backing Taipei against Beijing. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday it was “concerned with the rising tensions” to its north and urged “restraint by all parties”. “Diplomacy and dialogue must prevail,” it said in a statement.