PH-US ties reach new level

From the Manila Stardard Today (Dec 16): PH-US ties reach new level

United States Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Saturday that the decades-old bilateral relations between Washington and Manila have reached a new level. Campbell said Washington and Manila had agreed to focus its ties through partnerships for economic growth, reform, science, trade and investments. He said that previously, US-Philippines relations were focused on defense and security and hardly tackled cooperation on the economic front. “We’ve done a lot behind the scenes, with the remarkable support from the Department of Defense, the number of efforts with respect to Mindanao, and other elements on the security side,” Campbell said in a recent press briefing. “But at the highest level, we have not worked closely in recent years during the period of 1950’s 60’s or 1970’s. We want to enhance our high level engagement but we want to do it in a different way than we did in the past,” he said.

This may mean that the U.S. Government would focus more on the economy rather than enhancing further Manila’s defense capabilities, despite the fact that the Philippines is currently embroiled in an ongoing dispute with China over claims in the waters and islands of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino said that while Washington appeared to have shifted its focus to economy and trade, the United States remained committed in building a “minimum credible defense” for the country’s armed forces. He said that Washington has committed to provide Manila with a combination of troops, equipment and military training and exercises. Batino, however, said Washington’s plan to strengthen Manila’s defense capability was a key component in the implementation of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement, as he explained that there was really no new agreement when it comes to security and defense.

Foreign Affairs outgoing Undersecretary on policy Erlinda Basilio, meanwhile, said that Washington had been pushing for new agreements on economic growth, particularly for the Millennium Challenge Corporation through bilateral agreements on science and technology cooperation, trade and investments.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/16/ph-us-ties-reach-new-level/