Esperon eyes more military alliances

THE Philippines will reach out to establish military alliances with several countries under the Duterte administration, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said Wednesday.

Esperon made the stance during the turnover of 5,000 AK-74 guns and 20 military trucks from Russia to the Philippines. The turnover marked President Ro- drigo Duterte’s visit to Russia’s anti-submarine ship, the “Admiral Pantaleev.”

“All ships of friendly countries are welcome to Philippine ports. We have had [ port calls from] Chinese, Japanese, American ships, and this [port visit of Russians] provides diversity as to the kind of training that our military would have,” Esperon, former Armed Forces chief, said.

“With Russia’s port call and donation, we get exposure to technology and other techniques. That should be a welcome addition,” he added added.

Russia’s turnover of weaponry and other military equipment to the Philippine military does not diminish the importance of the longstanding military alliance between the United States and the Philippines.

Manila has three military agreements with Washington: the 1951 Mutual Defense Agreement (MDT), the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) inked in February 2016.

The MDT states that both parties will defend themselves against external armed attack, while the VFA allows US troops to train and advise the Philippine military in its fight against terrorists but bans US forces in combat operations.

EDCA, on the other hand, provides that US forces, contractors, vehicles, vessels and aircraft may conduct activities on agreed locations inside the Philippine military bases and such activities would include: training, transit, support and other related activities; refueling of aircraft, bunkering of vessels, temporary maintenance of vehicles, vessels and aircraft; temporary accommodation of personnel; communications, prepositioning of equipment, supplies and material and deploying forces and materials.

“Our military alliance with the US stays strong. In fact, US and Russia defense ministers have attended the Asean meeting in Clark yesterday. It is healthy that we can talk to our allies at the same time,” Esperon said.