The military declined to comment on President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to junk the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States pending a clarification from Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
“The Armed Forces is seeking clarification and we have communicated [our request] to the Department of National Defense. Until we get the clarification behind those statements, we cannot comment on it,” military spokesman Brigadier General Resituto Padilla told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.
Padilla made the reply after defense journalists asked if the Armed Forces of the Philippines can stand on its own without American forces amid the China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
Duterte said he was considering stopping all bilateral military exercises with the US, including the Edca because it was not even signed by the previous president and could not be considered a treaty.
When Edca was being formulated and finally signed in 2014, the agreement was seen as a deterrent to China’s aggression as it continued to grab territories and artificial islands in the WPS despite the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration junking China’s “9-dash line.”
Padilla said “the Armed Forces has its own capabilities. Based on the threats that we are facing, our country is friends with all its neighbors. We abide by the constitutional policy of always prioritizing peace and that’s exactly what we are doing. So within the scope of our capabilities we are able to protect our interest at the moment and that far I can go.”
On Tuesday, the military and its US counterparts will start joint exercises dubbed Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (Phiblex).
Pending clarification from Lorenzana in connection with Duterte’s threat to end RP-US military exercises, Padilla said the AFP will continue to engage US forces in interoperability exercises.
“We still continue to exercise. There are unilateral exercises that we conduct. So if those are enough for us then it will be enough for us,” he said.