Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has disclosed an ongoing low level review of the Mutual Defense Treaty being conducted by the Department of Defense and its United States counterpart.
Lorenzana denied that the US rejected his proposal to review the military treaty between Manila and Washington.
“I did not say that they rejected it. Initially, they said they prefer that we do not touch the document,” the Defense chief said. “But a low level review is on-going on both sides and the result will be discussed in the next Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board meeting,” he added.
Lorenzana said low level review is an exploratory study by low level staff on how to move the review forward. He did not disclose when the next MDB-SEB meeting will be held to discuss the results of the review.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has submitted its impact assessment report on the termination of the VFA to Malacanang.
“The report has been submitted,” disclosed DoJ Undersecretary Markk Perete.
The DoJ spokesman declined to divulge the contents of the seven-page document.
“It’s up to the Office of the President to reveal its contents,” said Perete.
The Justice Undersecretary noted that the document contained inputs from the Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs. (Martin Sadongdong ang Jeffrey Damicog)
