THE VIRTUAL meeting among American President Joseph R. Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has been postponed, according to Malacañang.

The so-called trilateral call was originally scheduled for Jan. 12 but Acting Presidential Communications Secretary Cesar B. Chavez said the US had requested to move it to 7 a.m. the following day.

He cited recent wildfires in Los Angeles.

“It was conveyed that this was due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.”

The Palace has not disclosed the agenda of the virtual trilateral meeting.

Mr. Marcos, Mr. Biden, and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a trilateral meeting in Washington in April last year.

The three countries held a maritime cooperative activity in December 2024, in line with their commitment to keeping peace and freedom of navigation in international waters and in the Indo-Pacific region.

The US and Japan have been on forefront of international condemnation of China’s intrusions into Philippine waters in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

Security analysts have said the three-way partnership is likely to continue under President-elect Donald J. Trump, who promoted the concept of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” in his first US presidency. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza