MANILA – The Mutual Defense Treaty between (MDT) the Philippines and United States should be reviewed since its “ambiguity” could cause “chaos and confusion” during a crisis, Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday.
During a visit to Manila last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “any armed attack” against Philippine forces in the South China Sea “will trigger mutual defense obligations” under the 67-year-old agreement.
Pompeo also said China’s island-building in the disputed waterway threatened Philippine sovereignty.
“I do not believe that ambiguity or vagueness of the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty will serve as a deterrent. In fact, it will cause confusion and chaos during a crisis,” Lorenzana said in a statement.
He added: “The fact that the security environment now is so vastly different and much more complex than the bipolar security construct of the era when the MDT was written necessitates a review of the treaty.”
During the same joint press briefing with Pompeo, Foreign Affairs secretary Tedoro Locsin Jr. said a review of the MDT would require “further thought.”
He added that there must be “sincere desire” between the two parties “to help and be helped.”
“My own view, it is a dynamic exchange that’s going on in government, my own view is no…In the old theory of deterrence, in vagueness lies the best deterrence. How do you flesh out that vagueness? In repeated assurances by the United States that in the event act of aggression is committed against the Philippines, I don’t believe going down into the details is the way the sincerity of the American commitment will be show,” Locsin said.
While the Philippines is unlikely to get involved in a war over the maritime dispute in the near future, the same cannot be said of the US, Lorenzana said as he expressed fears that Washington might pull Manila into conflict on the basis of the defense pact.
“The United States, with the increased and frequent passage of its naval vessels in the West Philippine Sea, is more likely to be involved in a shooting war. In such a case and on the basis of the MDT, the Philippines will be automatically involved,” he added.
Lorenzana also said it is not the “lack of reassurance that worries” him but being involved in a “war that we do not seek and do not want.”
Malacañang earlier said the defense treaty should be reviewed to ensure its terms are “clear-cut.”
The South China Sea dispute is a “major concern” for the US in terms of ensuring freedom of navigation, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Tuesday.
Romualdez also backed updating the decades-old treaty.
“Because of the times, the technology and everything else, we need to update it to make it more relevant to the times,” he said./PN
