By Junex Doronio
MANILA — As President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has declared that the Philippines would only invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States in the event a Filipino soldier died in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. has pronounced that the MDT should not be regarded as a tool to incite fear among countries.
The country’s defense chief issued the remarks on Friday (3 May 2024) in a press conference he attended in Hawaii alongside fellow Defense chiefs Lloyd Austin of the United States, Minoru Kihara of Japan, and Richard Marles of Australia.
Teodoro said he would not speculate on the conditions when the MDT might be invoked, pointing out that it would be a “political decision …principally by the Philippine government.”
“It would be counterproductive to delve into hypotheticals. As Defense Secretary, I would like to steer away from the discussion on [which] occasions that the MDT may be invoked when our jobs… is to make sure that through capability building, deterrence, there are no situations when MDT could arise,” he quipped.
Meanwhile, Austin said the MDT is not subject to hypothetical scenarios.
However, the US defense chief commented that the damage to Philippine vessels and injuries to Filipino crew members is “irresponsible behavior.”
“Filipino crew members are put in danger, sailors have been injured…and property damage. That is irresponsible behavior, he noted.
“It disregards international law. I would not get into any hypotheticals on what could happen and how it could happen. What I could say is that you heard me say, you heard what the President [Joe Biden] said a number of times: that our commitment to the treaty (MDT) is ironclad and we stand with the Philippines,” Austin assured.
(el Amigo/MNM)
