Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. believes it will not be appropriate for the Philippines to invoke its defense treaty with the United States at this time when run-ins between Chinese and Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea are becoming more frequent.
“I think it is not appropriate at all,” Teodoro said in a roundtable with The Manila Times on Friday.
He said the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) is a “wartime endeavor” that must be activated only when conflict is imminent.
Teodoro said an attack on any Philippine vessel is an event that falls within the scope of the MDT.
“But the MDT must be viewed in a greater context of entering into an armed conflict, which we do not want,” he said.
The treaty, which was signed on Aug. 30, 1951, requires both nations to support each other in case one comes under attack.
With tension mounting in the West Philippine Sea, particularly after a water cannon attack by China on a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel in early August, calls for the MDT to be invoked have been raised.
Teodoro said the threat of confrontation with China is there, “but the threat of conflict is not really imminent.”
“However, with that being said, we all should be concerned because, on our side, everybody knows where the government is coming from because we have transparency, we have freedom of the press and of speech, and to us, everything is disclosed,” he said.
On the other hand, Teodoro said China is not transparent.
“We do not know how their political processes work,” he said.
Although China’s strategy “is laid down on paper, we do not know how much of that is translated into actual operation.”
“The fundamental rule that everyone should follow is: deception is the name of the game,” Teodoro said.
He said there are people who say that China is advocating peace, “but the truth is we really do not know.” Teodoro said Manila has been reaching out diplomatically to Beijing to resolve the dispute, but a strong military posture improves “your bargaining leverage.” “The diplomatic and the military go hand-in-hand in that sense. So it should always be as much as possible diplomatic but backed up with the ability to say no,” he said.
China has been challenging the Philippines’ ownership of islets and other marine formations in the West Philippine Sea, arguing is part of its territory under the so-called nine-dash line concept that defines its borders.
The concept was invalidated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 when it issued a landmark ruling in favor of the Philippines.
Chinese ships, however, remain an intimidating presence in the West Philippine Sea.
In November 2021, three Chinese Coast Guard ships blocked and fired water cannons on two Philippine boats transporting supplies to Ayungin Shoal, which lies 104 nautical miles west of Palawan and is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
After the incident, Beijing urged the Philippines to remove the grounded Navy ship Sierra Madre from the shoal.
Early last year, about 50 Chinese fishing vessels were sighted swarming off Iroquois Reef, located south of the oil- and gas-rich Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea.
Early this year, a flotilla of over 200 Chinese ships suspected to be maritime militia massed at the Julian Felipe Reef, also within the EEZ.
There have also been reports of Chinese vessels driving away Filipino fishermen from fishing grounds in the West Philippine Sea.
Last February, a Chinese coast guard ship flashed a military-grade laser at a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on a resupply mission to Ayungin.
In June, Chinese ships tried to block two Philippine Coast Guard vessels from entering the shoal.
Last month, a new swarm of Chinese fishing boats returned to Recto Bank. — Franco Jose C. Baroña
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Credit belongs to: www.manilatimes.net
