PH-US ties rock-solid
Duterte suspends all joint naval patrols with foreign nations
The United States government remains committed to its alliance with the Philippines and will continue to work with the Duterte administration in many areas of mutual interest, including counterterrorism.
“We have a long, productive history with the Philippines. I understand that it’s not a history without its past troubles, but we’re committed to our alliance with the Philippines, and we look forward to working our way through that,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a news briefing in Washington, DC.
In Manila, US Embassy information officer Molly Koscina said: “We continue to focus on our broad relationship with the Philippines, and will work together in many areas of mutual interest, including counter terrorism, to improve the livelihoods of the Filipino people and uphold our shared
democratic values.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the Philippines will continue to honor its treaty obligations with the US a day after President Rodrigo Duterte called for the withdrawal of US special forces troops from the southern Philippines.
“The president has said, even as a priority statement in his inaugural address, that we will respect and continue to honor our treaty obligations and commitments particularly even with the US,” Yasay told a radio interview on Tuesday.
“His statements now are not intended and should not be taken as a signal that he will take back his previous statements insofar as respecting these agreements are concerned,” said Yasay.
No more joint naval patrols Duterte announced on Tuesday that the Philippines will no longer conduct any joint naval patrols with the United States and other foreign nations to avoid getting into trouble.
The President said he prefers the country would patrol its own territorial waters instead of joining other foreign naval forces in maritime operations elsewhere.
“We will not join any expedition of patrolling the seas. I will not allow it because I do not want my country to be involved in any hostile act,” the President said in his remarks at the anniversary of the Presidential Airlift Wing in Villamor Air Base.
“I do not want to ride gungho-style there with China or with America. I just want to patrol our territorial waters,” Duterte added. “We do not go into a patrol or join any other army from now because I do not want trouble.”
Defense relations
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said that defense relations between the US and the Philippines remain strong.
In a statement, Marine Col. Edgard A. Arevalo, AFP Public Affairs Office chief, said the pronouncement coming from the Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief is understandable considering that he is only looking after the welfare of the US troops.
“We take due notice of the pronouncement of the Commander-in-Chief President Rodrigo Duterte expressing his concern of the safety of US Servicemen in Mindanao,” Arevalo said.
“We assure our people and allies that PH-US defense relations remains rock solid. Activities lined up for the year will continue without interruption. Consultative planning activities for 2017 and beyond likewise remain on track,” he added.
Arevalo said pursuant to the same statement by President Duterte, he only desires that American troops should be removed from harm’s way in Western Mindanao, particularly Zamboanga, Basilan and Sulu where intense focused military operations combating terrorism are ongoing.
“The recent pronouncement will affect only a token number of American servicemen who are confined mainly in Zamboanga City. They provide technical assistance and training to their Filipino counterparts in combating terrorism in the Philippines,” Arevalo said.
“The number has dwindled following the deactivation and pullout of the JSOTF-P (Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines) several years ago,” he added.
Troops pullout The United States said the Philippine government had not officially communicated President Duterte’s demand to pull US military advisers out of the rebellion-torn southern Philippines.
Since 2002, up to 600 US advisers have been deployed in the Mindanao region to train troops battling Muslim extremists but their numbers have been scaled down in recent years.
In Washington, the Pentagon and State Department said they had not been officially contacted by Manila about pulling out the remaining advisers.
“We will continue to consult closely with our Filipino partners to appropriately tailor our assistance to whatever approach the new administration adopts,” Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said.
The President only wanted to protect Americans from kidnappings and terrorism as they had become “a very good target,” Yasay said.
“There is no shift in so far as our policy is concerned with respect to our close friendship with the Americans.”
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that “the statement reflects (President Duterte’s) new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy.”
The Philippines seeks to be “less dependent” on the United States. “We’re not turning our back on anybody. We are simply charting an independent course,” Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a Palace press conference.
“The foreign policy that we have is an independent one, is not dependent on one superior state or two,” he added.
Muddling foreign policy
President Duterte’s order for American soldiers to leave the country and the defense establishment’s bid to strengthen the security alliance of the United States and the Philippines appear to be muddling the government’s foreign policy with regards to its longtime ally.
Expert political analyst Ramon Casiple said that while Duterte is showing he is close to making a decision to abrogate the existing Visiting Forces Agreement with the US, the events “on the ground” appear to be set afar from this.
On the other hand, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate lauded Duterte’s new move to tell the US government that he resents American interference in the country’s affairs.
“President Duterte is right in asserting what has long been demanded by the people: ending the more than century-old US military intervention in Mindanao, which among others resulted to massacres of civilians, like the 1906 Bud Dajo massacre before and the 2015 Mamasapano debacle in recent time,” said Zarate.
He added: “We hope that this is just the start and, eventually, President Duterte also pursues the abrogation of the onerous and lopsided treaties like the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). With this we can truly say that the country have a truly independent foreign policy.”
Even Senator Francis “Chiz” Esudero sees this as an opportunity to revisit the VFA and reassess the role of American forces in the country.
Escudero said a review of the bilateral agreement would help the administration craft a firm foreign policy without putting the two countries’ relationship with other countries, especially with the US, in peril.
The senator said he believes the President is not entirely against the presence of American troops on the ground when he made strongly worded statements against Obama, but merely wants US forces out of conflict-stricken regions in the Philippines for their safety.
Besides, he said the constant presence of American troops especially in the Southern Mindanao, had always been a prickly issue.
“Because under the Constitution, under the military bases agreement, even under the VFA, they are not allowed to interfere in special operations in Mindanao. So who are and what are they going to remove from there? If they are training, or they are inside a camp, then there’s no need (to ask them to leave),” Escudero said.