PRESIDENT Duterte and United States (US) Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met in Manila last Thursday and “they reaffirmed the long-standing US-Philippines alliance, discussing ways to improve cooperation on regional security and counter-terrorism,” the US State Department said in a statement posted on the department website.
Secretary Pompeo then met with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. In their joint press conference afterwards, Pompeo said the US vows to defend the Philippines against armed attack in the disputed South China Sea. It was the first time any US official had publicly stated the US intends to defend the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Under the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, the two countries are to come to each other’s aid in case of “an armed attack in the Pacific area” on either party. As the South China Sea is west of the Philippines, while the Pacific Ocean is east of us, the treaty appeared to be silent on any attack in the South China Sea.
It is in the South China Sea where Philippines and several other small countries in the region – Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, along with Taiwan – have conflicting claims against China over several islands. Our fishermen were driven away from Scarborough Shoal (Panatag or Bajo de Masinloc) just west of Zambales in 2016. Scarborough is within our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone under the UN Convention on the law of the Sea. But it is also claimed by China as it is within the eastern boundary of its claimed territory as defined by a nine-dash line.
President Duterte has wisely chosen to develop closer economic relations with China rather than fight for its right to Scarborough and other islands in the South China Sea. We could not win a war against China, he said. We have the 1951 PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty, but it specifically provides for US action “in case of an armed attack in the Pacific area.”
Last Thursday, Secretary Pompeo, in his joint news conference with Secretary Locsin, said: “As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft, or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defense obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defense Treaty.”
This geographical interpretation by Secretary Pompeo, however, does not seem to have convinced our own officials. Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana has said there is need to review the Mutual Defense Treaty. He also noted that the treaty was never ratified by the US Congress.
We welcome Secretary Pompeo’s words of assurance about the continuing US-PH alliance but we can also understand Secretary Lorenzana’s call for a review of the treaty to remove any possible misinterpretations. In the meantime, we must maintain our policy of friendship with all nations, including those, like China, with which we have pending disputes that must be settled amicably.
