From the Manila Standard Today (Apr 14): US sweetens defense deal; PH seeks review
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will use the 1987 Constitution and the national interest in reviewing the draft of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, Malacañang said on Sunday.
“The agreement has to be aligned with our Constitution and must uphold the national interest of the Philippines,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.
“These will be the President’s guiding principles in reviewing the draft.”
Coloma made his statement even as the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the US was offering humanitarian assistance and disaster response to the Philippines as an incentive to speed up the approval of the EDCA.
“True assistance should not require any military pact,” said Renato Reyes Jr., the group’s secretary-general.
“Why is the so-called assistance being tied to the military pact? That is deception."
Reyes said the agreement had a section called humanitarian assistance and disaster response or HADR, and particularly in the areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda.
“The United States has no real interest to help us develop our military capability. It wants to keep the Armed Forces of the Philippines dependent on US aid,” Reyes said.
“They are using HADR to justify the pact. The US is the only country offering the so-called HADR in exchange for a military pact.”
Coloma could not yet confirm if Aquino has received a copy of the draft EDCA from the Philippine negotiating panel led by Defense Undersecretary Pio Batino.
But he said there was no concerted effort to make sure the EDCA was signed during the visit of US President Barack Obama on April 28.
“There is no deadline for the signing of the agreement,” Coloma said.
“What’s important is that this pact must reflect the highest interest of our country in terms of national defense.”
On Friday, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia said the EDCA would only allow the American military to use the facilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines “at the invitation of the Philippines.”
He said the US would also be required to get the consent of the Philippines as to what it could bring into the country, where all forms of nuclear weapons would be prohibited in accordance with the Constitution.
But Reyes said the Filipinos must not be fooled into thinking that the US would willingly serve as a counterbalance to China through its Asian pivot without getting the lion’s share from the EDCA.
“The imminent signing of the so-called EDCA will be a gross violation of Philippine sovereignty and the Constitution,” Reyes said.
“The oft-repeated rationale is that we need this agreement with the US to protect ourselves from Chinese incursions. So what Aquino is basically saying is, to protect Filipinos from the neighborhood bully, we’re inviting a rapist inside our house to do as he pleases. That is the implication of this agreement.”
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/04/14/us-sweetens-defense-deal-ph-seeks-review/
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will use the 1987 Constitution and the national interest in reviewing the draft of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, Malacañang said on Sunday.
“The agreement has to be aligned with our Constitution and must uphold the national interest of the Philippines,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.
“These will be the President’s guiding principles in reviewing the draft.”
Coloma made his statement even as the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the US was offering humanitarian assistance and disaster response to the Philippines as an incentive to speed up the approval of the EDCA.
“True assistance should not require any military pact,” said Renato Reyes Jr., the group’s secretary-general.
“Why is the so-called assistance being tied to the military pact? That is deception."
Reyes said the agreement had a section called humanitarian assistance and disaster response or HADR, and particularly in the areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda.
“The United States has no real interest to help us develop our military capability. It wants to keep the Armed Forces of the Philippines dependent on US aid,” Reyes said.
“They are using HADR to justify the pact. The US is the only country offering the so-called HADR in exchange for a military pact.”
Coloma could not yet confirm if Aquino has received a copy of the draft EDCA from the Philippine negotiating panel led by Defense Undersecretary Pio Batino.
But he said there was no concerted effort to make sure the EDCA was signed during the visit of US President Barack Obama on April 28.
“There is no deadline for the signing of the agreement,” Coloma said.
“What’s important is that this pact must reflect the highest interest of our country in terms of national defense.”
On Friday, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia said the EDCA would only allow the American military to use the facilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines “at the invitation of the Philippines.”
He said the US would also be required to get the consent of the Philippines as to what it could bring into the country, where all forms of nuclear weapons would be prohibited in accordance with the Constitution.
But Reyes said the Filipinos must not be fooled into thinking that the US would willingly serve as a counterbalance to China through its Asian pivot without getting the lion’s share from the EDCA.
“The imminent signing of the so-called EDCA will be a gross violation of Philippine sovereignty and the Constitution,” Reyes said.
“The oft-repeated rationale is that we need this agreement with the US to protect ourselves from Chinese incursions. So what Aquino is basically saying is, to protect Filipinos from the neighborhood bully, we’re inviting a rapist inside our house to do as he pleases. That is the implication of this agreement.”
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/04/14/us-sweetens-defense-deal-ph-seeks-review/