THE Philippines and the United States may have the 68-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), but in the view of US Ambassador Sung Kim, both countries need to examine what lies ahead to address potential challenges and also seize opportunities for growth.
He said the United States is open to reviewing the MDT with the Philippines and possibly exploring ways on making it “even better.”
“As we face new domestic, regional and global challenges, we cannot rest simply on our confidence in the strength of this long-standing relationship,” Ambassador Kim said at the opening of the Think Tank Conference held at a hotel in Makati.
“We need to examine and analyze what lies over the horizon to ensure that we bring to bear the most effective tools and resources to not just overcome those challenges, but to seize opportunities,” he added.
The 1951 MDT binds the United States to defend its long-term ally, the Philippines, from aggression.
Philippine officials have long wanted to clarify if the US will help defend the Philippines in case its military comes under attack in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines and five other claimants have been contesting ownership of the strategic waters and islands for decades. China asserts sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, citing “historic” claim under its nine-dash-line principle.
Despite Ambassador Kim’s admission that a lot had been done in the past to strengthen the Philippine-US relationship, both countries are now asking whether they are equipped to deal with a looming security crisis in the region.
“So we are obviously doing a lot.… But we still need to ask—are we equipped to deal with security challenges that lie over the horizon?” he asked.
He provided the answer, saying, “both sides are very closely engaged at various levels on the matter and that dialogue is ongoing.”
“We will just continue to stay closely engaged and talk to each other, and if there are any adjustments that would be useful, certainly we would welcome an opportunity to make adjustments,” he said.
Ambassador Kim said, “our robust security alliance with the Philippines plays an important role in securing the region and beyond.”
He said the Indo-Pacific is a dynamic region that often finds itself at the center of global issues and challenges but added that its relationship with the Philippines “has enabled us to address those challenges at the bilateral level and with other partners.”
Started by former President Barack Obama as a “pivot or rebalance” by moving some of its military forces from Europe to Asia, the “Indo-Pacific region strategy” is now being pursued by President Donald J. Trump.
The new strategy is seen as a “renewed commitment” to the old framework of “allies, partners and friends” coupled with a new emphasis on the Indo-Pacific, which encouraged countries, inside and outside Southeast Asia, that are concerned about the implications of China’s rise to work with one another.
There will also be commitments, Kim said, “to maintain and even increase the US’s naval presence in the region and to finance Southeast Asian countries to improve their own naval and coastguard forces.”
This was made obvious when Defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna, one of the guests, listed five locations in the country that could be the site of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca): Palawan, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Fort Magsaysay and Fort Basa.
The Edca is an agreement between the United States and the Philippines intended to bolster the US-Philippine alliance and gives Philippine military personnel access to American ships and planes.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana last week said a team from the US will be in Manila this month for exploratory talks with Philippine officials on the possible amendments to the treaty.
Others in attendance at the Think Tank forum were former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, DFA Undersecretary Luis Manalo, Defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna and other government officials and members of academe.