THE Philippines and the United States have agreed to safeguard freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea (SCS/WPS) at the conclusion of the two countries’ Eighth Bilateral Strategic Review.
In joint statement, the two sides agreed to “peacefully resolve” the disputes in the strategic waters “in accordance with international law, as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention.”
The meeting reinforced an earlier statement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Manila in March, honoring the two countries’ 1951 defense treaty which says, “any armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the SCS will trigger Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty.”
In plain language, it means that the US military will intervene if any foreign power attacks the Philippines’s armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the SCS/WPS.
“Both sides also emphasized the importance of concluding an effective and substantive Code of Conduct [COC] that would not prejudice the rights under international law of both claimant states and nonclaimant states in the SCS,” the statement said.
In a joint press conference attended by the Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez and US Ambassador Sung Kim in Makati, the two diplomats cited the continuing friendly relations between the two countries.
Ambassador Kim said both sides have agreed on ways to strengthen their alliances and committed to let discussions continue into the future.
Ambassador Romualdez said the Philippines and the US continue “to look for ways to enhance cooperation, especially in intelligence sharing.”
“Today is the best time in our economic cooperation with the United States,” Romualdez said, when asked on developments in the Free Trade Agreement being forged with the US.
Manila and Washington held the Eighth Bilateral Strategic Dialogue on July 15 and 16, 2019, in Manila. Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo and Department of National Defense Undersecretary Cesar Yano co-led the Philippine delegation.
On the other hand, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randy Schriver co-led the US delegation.
The Bilateral Strategic Dialogue is the principal forum for discussing the full range of political, security and economic cooperation between the Philippines and the United States, comprising four working groups: Defense and Security; Economics, Development, and Prosperity; Regional and Global Diplomatic Engagement; and, Rule of Law and Law Enforcement.
The joint statement said the discussions between Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and Secretary of State Pompeo in March 2019, and the Joint Statement resulting from the meeting in Manila between President Duterte and President Donald J. Trump in November 2017 “provided strategic direction to the Dialogue.”
“Both sides recognized the importance of a strong Philippines-US alliance in enhancing security cooperation, and promoting regional stability and prosperity,” the statement added.
“The Philippines and the United States pledged to enhance their already robust defense cooperation, by improving defense infrastructure, updating personnel and logistics procedures, and increasing mutual communication and coordination on operational elements of regional security.”
Also, both sides commit to begin planning on a range of activities to improve “maritime domain awareness,” a key point of discussion given China’s aggressive behavior in the SCS/WPS.
In June, Locsin, speaking at the United Nations, denounced Chinese fishermen for abandoning 22 Filipino fishermen to the mercy of the sea after their anchored trawler was hit by the Chinese vessel in Recto Bank, which is within the Philippines’s EEZ.