Phl, US to start 8th round of base access talks

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and the United States (US) will resume on Thursday talks on a proposed deal granting American troops greater access to military bases in the country.

The 8th round of talks on the enhanced defense cooperation will be held for two days at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The negotiation will resume as Manila is preparing for US President Barack Obama’s visit to the Philippines on April 27.

It will also be the first meeting of the two panels since the Philippines filed a written argument to the United Nations arbitral tribunal hearing its case against China over Beijing's territorial claims.

The Philippines and the US have agreed to strengthen their defense ties amid China’s aggressive acts in the West Philippine Sea, the subject of a territorial row in the region.

Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, chairman of the Philippine panel, said they are looking forward to “productive discussions” with their US counterparts.

He stressed the “vital importance” of increasing capabilities to respond to natural and man-made calamities.

"Calamities such as typhoon ‘Yolanda’ as well as the ongoing search for the Malaysian Airlines plane underscore that friendly armed forces are in a unique and crucial position to provide timely responses in these events,” Batino said in a statement.

“Time is of the essence in these situations and, as often the first responders, friendly armed forces can provide much-needed human, technical and equipment assistance and support for the success of those efforts,” he added.

“Yolanda” ravaged several provinces in Visayas in November, leaving more than 6,200 people dead and more than P36-billion worth of properties damaged.

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, meanwhile, went missing last month, prompting several countries including the US and the Philippines to assist in the search operations.

“Both the Philippines and the United States recognize this added key dimension to this updated framework of defense cooperation and we are working together for the realization of the full potentials of closer partnership in ensuring timely and adequate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief responses,” Batino said. 

The defense deal, Batino claimed, would also benefit the modernization of the Philippine military and provide economic opportunities through the purchase of local goods by the US.

The 7th round of talks was held from March 24 to 26 also in Camp Aguinaldo. Key details of the discussions were kept under wraps despite an earlier promise by the Philippine panel to uphold transparency.

Philippine panel members, however, claimed that negotiators have made “further progress on realizing their mutual commitment to strengthen individual and collective defense.”

The presence of US troops is a controversial issue in the Philippines, with militant groups insisting that a deal on increased rotational presence would trample the country’s sovereignty.

The Senate voted to shut down the US bases in the country in 1991 but a visiting forces agreement allowing joint exercises between Philippine and US troops was ratified eight years later. – with Zaphyr Iral, R. Mendoza and A. Perez