Outgoing US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III will visit the Philippines and three other countries this week to join meetings on a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Austin will make his fourth visit to the Philippines to"advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with US and Philippine forces.”

He said that Austin would also head to Australia, Laos, and Fiji to “participate in a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings.”

On November 21, Austin would attend the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus, reaffirm the US’ commitment to ASEAN centrality at the ASEAN-United States Informal Meeting, and identify future areas of cooperation with regional counterparts. Jaspearl Tan/DMS