Imee says MDT with US should be reviewed
The Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the Philippines and the United States should be reviewed, Senator Imee Marcos said Sunday.
In an interview with dzBB, Marcos said reviewing the treaty would help clarify its scope, including the kinds of armed attacks and areas where the US could provide military assistance.
“War is different now, we are using drones. There are various ways to conduct now. We don’t know if this kind of armed attack would allow us to get help from the Americans,” said Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“Another thing is, which territories are covered by the treaty? Because the treaty states that it is in the Pacific. But when we talked to the Americans, they called it a disputed territory. So my question is, which disputed territory? There are so many disputed territories,” she added.
She also proposed that an annex should be attached to the MDT to further explain its scope.
Marcos also agreed with Senate President Francis Escudero’s suggestion to raise the issue of China’s harassment to the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“For me, SP is right. First of all, the Code of Conduct, which has been pending for decades, has been in front of us the whole time. We have been discussing the code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea and we have to explain it. Because there are so many claimants. The Philippines is not the only one having a problem with that issue. The claimant nations should agree and show that this is the new rule,” she said.
Marcos also said that fellow claimant states should lead the discussions on the Code of Conduct.
“Can all the claimants sit down and talk about this, instead of other countries interfering? Like the US, it’s active but it is not a claimant. It has no right. And I think also for the longest time, those who should be conducting joint patrols with us should also be claimants, so there would be no issue,” she said.
Aside from China, the Philippines’ claim in the South China Sea overlaps with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
