Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 1) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr. said he wants the Philippines’ defense treaty with the US to be amended so Washington can also aid Manila in case of a cyberattack.
Locsin said Sunday that while he is standing pat on his view that there is no need to amend the 68-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), he is open to including cyberattacks as among the possible triggers for the US to help the Philippines fend off an attack from a foreign power.
“I am opposed to change in the Mutual Defence Treaty except possibly including cyberattacks as a trigger of the MDT and World War 3,” he tweeted.
Teddy Locsin Jr.@teddyboylocsin
I am opposed to change in the Mutual Defence Treaty except possibly including cyberattacks as a trigger of the MDT and World War 3. It even rhymes. https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1200638569645133825 …
Teddy Locsin Jr.@teddyboylocsin
And China takes him seriously. https://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet/status/1200539133657190400 …
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5:45 PM - Nov 30, 2019
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See Teddy Locsin Jr.'s other Tweets
Locsin said this in response to President Rodrigo Duterte telling CNN Philippines in an exclusive interview that there will be “quarrel” with China if it cuts power in the country.
"And China takes him seriously,” Locsin said in another tweet.
In the same interview, Duterte also questioned the security concerns hounding China’s co-ownership of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which operates the country’s power transmission system.
"It’s a business so why would China cut it?" he said, adding that China was only trying to help the Philippines because it wanted allies.
The Chinese state-owned State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has a 40 percent stake in the consortium that owns the NGCP which has ran it since 2009. Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy, Jr. and Calaca High Power Corporation led by Robert Coyiuto, Jr. also co-own the NGCP.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said that while SGCC is a minority shareholder, it actually has power over the country's grid and can "turn it off remotely" – posing dangers to the Philippines in case of a war.
This is also reflected in an internal report obtained by CNN, which states that the Philippines' grid is "under the full control" of the Chinese government. The Senate is expected to probe these issues, which has been backed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Energy department.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang dismissed these allegations as “completely groundless” as the SGCC merely offers technical support if requested.
The NGCP has assured that the SGCC’s role in the company is only that of an investor, with board seats corresponding to its stake in the company. It also said that its day-to-day operations are “100 percent handled by Filipinos.”
The MDT
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is pushing for amendments to the MDT to clarify “ambiguities” in the treaty, especially on which sea areas it covers. “Low-level” talks on its possible amendments are underway.
The MDT says the US and the Philippines would aid each other in case of an armed attack on “metropolitan territories,” “island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean,” and on “its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.”
Some local officials want a review of the MDT to clarify whether it covers attacks in the South China Sea, where several countries, including the Philippines, have overlapping territorial claims.
Locsin, however, has long opposed a review of the MDT to address rising tensions in the South China Sea as the vagueness in its provisions would supposedly work in the Philippines’ favor.
CNN Philippines’ Xave Gregorio, Eimor Santos and Lara Tan contributed to this report.
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