This article examines the Philippines' strategy of external balancing against an aggressive China as it intensifies its security ties with the United States, its only strategic and long‐standing ally. This course of action aims to strengthen the country's defense relations with the United States, particularly in developing the territorial defense capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In this process, the Philippines finds it similarly essential to establish security ties with other bilateral defense partners of the United States, such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia. In conclusion, the article argues that fostering informal security arrangements with these countries enables the Philippines to confront a pressing and persistent maritime issue in Southeast Asia: China's expansion in the South China Sea.