[From left to right] United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, PH Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, and PH Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. join hands during a photo opportunity before the start of ‘4th Philippines-US Two-Plus-Two Ministerial Consultations’ at the Tejeros Hall in Camp Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City on July 30, 2024. Ryan Leagogo/INQUIRER.net
At the House committee on appropriations’ hearing on the Department of National Defense (DND) proposed budget for 2025, Teodoro was quizzed about his recent statements regarding expanding the scope of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) so that it could be a deterrent to a “cunning” adversary.
Teodoro explained to Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas that there would not be many changes to the MDT save for how an attack on the country can be interpreted because aggressors have been circumventing definitions of an armed attack.
“There would be no changes to the MDT, it’s just that we don’t want to canalize on an interpretation of an attack of an armed vessel. This is more for strategic purposes because China uses a non-lawful system of aggression which static interpretation and static processes will not address,” he said.
“So just as the aggressor has millions of variables in its playbook, we have to also re-study. There are no specifics right now that will depend on the recommendations of the working groups on how to make the [MDT] interpretation more dynamic to address threats that we may not even foresee. For example cyberthreats and other threats that China, which knows no rules, may employ. So that is the context of our statement. There are no specifics at this time,” he added.
Brosas then asked if the possible changes to the MDT would result in more Edca sites.
“To be clear, this will not entail the construction of additional Edca sites or Edca bases?” Brosas asked.
“No, this does not entail additional Edca sites because we are sticking to the nine Edca facilities, but it entails perhaps interoperable measures to address China’s creative and varied tactics on a defense-to-defense level. Now there are other ways that China does what is supposedly, what we know is illegal, for example the use of maritime militias, CCG (Chinese Coast Guard) vessels which are actually naval vessels,” Teodoro said.
“So this kind of an environment is an environment where we cannot work within a set of parameters. we have to work with our allies and partners to address an evolving threat,” he added.
On Wednesday, Teodoro said in an ambush interview that the MDT needs a wider scope. The MDT is a mechanism that requires the two countries to defend each other in case of an armed attack on the parties to the treaty.
READ: West Philippine Sea: Teodoro seeks wider scope of defense treaty with US
According to Brosas, she asked for a clarification because she prefers that the Philippines avoid military risks, possibly being caught in rising tensions between the US and China.
“I was just clarifying this because we don’t want such movements if it will heighten the risk of a military confrontation with the Philippines potentially becoming part of a power struggle between US and China. We do not want to be dragged in the conflict with US adversaries,” she said.
“If the interoperability measures you are referring to will threaten the country even more, on the part of the Makabayan bloc, we would like for the solutions to the maritime disputes to be grounded in diplomacy and peaceful negotiations. I know what you’re doing is hard, but if the military alliances would only provoke aggression, we don’t want that,” she added.
Last April 12, at the first trilateral summit between the Philippines, the US, and Japan, US President Joe Biden reiterated that their commitment to the defense agreements is ironclad — guaranteeing that any attack on a Philippine aircraft, vessel, or armed forces in the South China Sea will invoke the MDT.
READ: Biden reiterates: Any attack on PH aircraft, ship in SCS will invoke MDT
This statement from Biden came on the heels of tensions between the Philippines and China, which has conducted aggressive maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippine Coast Guard has been protesting CCG’s harassment of Filipino vessels through radio challenges, use of water cannons, and even collision.
However, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. admitted that a collision would not invoke the MDT.
READ: SCS collision not reason to invoke defense pact with US–Marcos