US panel: Enhanced defense pact will respect PHL sovereignty

From GMA News (Mar 24): US panel: Enhanced defense pact will respect PHL sovereignty

A panel from the United States assured its Filipino counterparts Monday that the US will respect the sovereignty of the Philippines in an enhanced defense agreement the two countries are in negotiations for.

“The other issue that we agreed on at the outset of this was the respect for the sovereignty of the Philippines,” Ambassador Eric John, chairman of the US negotiating panel, said in a speech at the start of the 7th round of discussions.

“That’s a message that you made clear the very first round and that’s the message all of us took back to Washington and it is [in] the best spirit of respect for sovereignty and respect for [our] long-standing partnership that we entered into these negotiations,” he added.

The proposed agreement will allow an increased rotational deployment of US troops, ships, aircraft and humanitarian equipment to the Philippines.

Under the proposal, the Philippines will allow the sharing of well-defined areas within certain Armed Forces of the Philippines facilities with elements of the US military.

The US troops will also be allowed to construct facilities such as billeting or housing for additional military elements and hangars in existing Philippine Air Force bases where they can put their rescue helicopters.

Ambassador Eduardo Malaya, a member of the Philippine panel, earlier said there will be no "base within a base" as Filipino authorities will have access to the areas provided to US troops.

He said a military base is a facility where there is extraterritoriality and exclusivity, which will not happen under the new defense pact.

The panels are expected to finalize the language in the pact on access for Filipino authorities and on the sharing of responsibilities with respect to securing the facilities.

The Philippine panel expects to include a provision that will allow a review of the agreement every five years.

The panels will also discuss the duration of the agreement.

Ambassador John said the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the US can be strengthened “through further implementing steps that we’re taking here with this agreement.”

In his opening statement, Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, head of the Philippine negotiating panel, said “we are very mindful of the need to make adjustments in the implementation of the MDT, to ensure that our constitutional requirements are fully observed.”

He said the Philippine panel expects that the agreement will not just bolster the countries' collective security, but will also add another dimension to their economic interaction.

“We hope to make significant progress at this round, not because of any perceived deadline, but because it is in our mutual interest to do so,” he said.

The enhanced defense pact being negotiated by the US and the Philippines is expected to boost the latter's external defense capability amid an aggressive claim by China over parts of the South China Sea that the Philippines considers its territory.

The Philippines recently filed a diplomatic protest against China — the second in two weeks — for preventing two vessels carrying supplies and personnel from going to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea..

Before that, Manila accused China of harassing a group of fishermen off the Scarborough Shoal, another Philippine-claimed feature in the South China Sea now controlled by China after a standoff in 2012.

The US had military bases in the Philippines until 1991, when the Senate voted against ratifying an extension of the Philippines-US Bases Treaty.

Despite this, the two countries have been military allies and have jointly held the Balikatan military exercises every year.

According to a fact sheet from the US Embassy in Manila, the US also advises and assists "Philippine Security Forces to defeat Violent Extremist Organizations and neutralize enemy safe havens" through the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines.

US troops under the task force are only in the Philippines temporarily and only participate in "non-combat advisory operations."

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/353943/news/nation/us-panel-enhanced-defense-pact-will-respect-phl-sovereignty