Locsin, Blinken vow to strengthen countries’ alliance

MANILA, Philippines — The foreign secretaries of the Philippines and United States have reaffirmed the need to work closely to strengthen the alliance between the two countries.

Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. expressed his support for the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and underscored the need for both sides to work together to sustain and strengthen the pact, as well as the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which operationalized the MDT, the DFA said in a statement yesterday.

“Great conversation. Will get a lot done soon,” Locsin said in a post on Twitter on Thursday, referring to his talk with his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The Philippines and the US signed the MDT in 1951 with the commitment to defend each other in the event of an armed attack. This is the Philippines’ only defense treaty of its kind with another country.

President Duterte unilaterally terminated the Philippines-US Visiting Forces Agreement last year. The VFA allows Philippine and US troops to hold joint exercises in the country.

Duterte, however, has suspended the termination process.

Meanwhile, a ranking congressman yesterday urged the Duterte administration to reconsider its earlier decision to abrogate the VFA with the US amid growing threat from China in disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.

?House national defense and security committee vice chairman Ruffy Biazon said the new law passed by China allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels entering the disputed waters and demolish structures built by other countries within its territorial claims requires a renewed alliance with the US under newly elected President Joe Biden.

“The threat brought about by the new Chinese law authorizing the Chinese Coast Guard to use weapons in West Philippine Sea should compel the government to rethink the termination of the VFA,” Biazon stressed in a post on his Twitter account.

The US has reaffirmed its commitment to the MDT with the Philippine government even as it continued to reject China’s massive claims in the South China Sea. – Edu Punay, Romina Cabrera, Elizabeth Marcelo