AS a side issue — but nevertheless important — in the recent trip to the Philippines by US Vice President Kamala Harris, the military ties between the two countries are again in focus.
While this relationship goes back to the arrival of Commodore George Dewey at the turn of the 20th century, the nitty gritty of this military arrangement is governed by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which has been in effect for 71 years but has never been tried once.
The MDT could have been invoked during the Marawi siege in 2015 or the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers, but the two countries did not consider such events as needing the implementation of this treaty to give an official response. In the case of Marawi, the United States only gave token assistance in terms of firearms, ammunition and intelligence sharing. In the case of 9-11, the Philippines just joined the call for the Coalition of the Willing which invaded Iraq in March 2013 as an offshoot of the terrorist attacks in New York.
The Harris trip to Palawan and her too-often-repeated assurance that the US will never abandon the Philippines in case it is attacked put to the fore the need to review the Mutual Defense Treaty.
‘The Harris trip to Palawan and her too-often-repeated assurance that the US will never abandon the Philippines in case it is attacked put to the fore the need to review the Mutual Defense Treaty.’
National Security Adviser Secretary Clarita Carlos on Tuesday said a study group has been formed to review the country’s 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States. The study group is headed by Carlos representing the National Security Council (NSC) and includes the secretaries of the Department of National Defense (DND), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The Philippines also needs to review the MDT considering that its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US is up for termination or renewal in April 2023, Carlos said.
The security adviser correctly pointed out that “there is no automaticity under the MDT for either of the countries to extend assistance in case of an attack to the other.” She said this still has to undergo constitutional processes in the US.
Former defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana had called for a review of the MDT during the Duterte administration, saying new regional security challenges and China’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, including in areas that belong to the Philippines, need to be addressed.
Carlos and her panel may well conduct a thorough study of the MDT, using even a fine-tooth comb, but the review had been provided to them and to the Filipino nation by the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
In a speech at the US National Press Club on September 17, 1982, Marcos was asked if it was true that he demanded $2 billion from the US as rent for the military bases. He said this is not true, what he wanted was a “study on how best we can do our job” under the MDT (in case of an attack).
Marcos affirmed: “You and I know that if the Philippines is attacked, the US is not necessarily bound to immediately react because the provision of the Mutual Defense pact is that you will immediately take steps as is necessary to meet the contingency. What does that mean? That means you will have to go to the Senate and the House of Representatives. What does that mean? That means delay, while we are dying there.” After this sentence, Marcos was given a hearty applause by the audience.
In any study that the Carlos panel would make, they should consider this position of former President Marcos whose knowledge and experience with the MDT is clearly far superior than theirs.
