PH-US alliance: An enduring partnership

[Lee]

From the Manila Times.  

By Merliza Makinano

April 13, 2023

 

Quote

 

WHEN it was reported that four new sites have been identified as new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) bases, there was the expected Chinese opposition. But some compatriots also argued that this would entangle the country in a possible United States-China conflict.

The new sites — Balabac Island in Palawan; Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan province; Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan; and Camp Melchor F. Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela, are in addition to five other EDCA locations (i.e., Cesar Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Airfield in Cagayan de Oro City; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu). Under the 2014 EDCA, US troops are able rotate in these identified bases.

Such bases are crucial to our national interest. According to the Department of National Defense (DND), these sites are "vital to defending the country's territories, responding to calamities, and securing Filipino fishermen making their livelihood in the country's vast waters." As storage and warehouse facilities for military logistics, it will also boost the country's capabilities in humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

Further, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the additional EDCA sites would allow the United States "a chance to be able to come and help us in any way." The current strategy is to "... keep strengthening the defense of our territory..." Thus, he has committed to support the modernization of military assets and enhancement of defense capabilities.

Why do we need allies, and why must we strengthen our partnership with the United States?

Security challenges

The regional security situation remains unstable and uncertain. The security challenges in the region are plenty, and no one country can face these challenges alone. There's China's increasing assertiveness fueling tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the North Korean situation, and a range of non-traditional security threats — natural disasters, terrorism and extremism, sea piracy, transnational crimes, and climate change.

The US National Security Strategy (NSS) prioritizes China and the Indo-Pacific region, as it has a "vital interest in deterring aggression" by China, Russia and other states. Its defense strategy is to "sustain and strengthen deterrence," with China as its "pacing challenge."

The NSS further states that China "is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so." While the competition with China is "most pronounced in the Indo-Pacific," it is also "increasingly global." Thus, the Indo-Pacific region will be the center of 21st century geopolitics, and the next decade will be the "decisive decade."

 

Meanwhile, China's army has been reportedly told to "comprehensively strengthen military training in preparation for war," and that it must also "resolutely defend national sovereignty and national security."

In sum, the future Indo-Pacific landscape is uncertain. But this region will impact and define the future of the international order. And thus, we need to understand and prepare for this future scenario.

Stronger alliances

In the region, the US has strengthened its alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia. In addition, the Philippines also supported the trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (Aukus). The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) stated that "it is important that partnerships or arrangements in the Indo-Pacific region, such as Aukus support our pursuit of deeper regional cooperation and sustained economic vitality and resilience, which are essential to our national development and to the security of the region."

Amid China's aggressive posturing in the region, majority of the US operational submarines are reportedly now in the Pacific. For now, the US still has an edge over China when it comes to undersea warfare, but China is catching up. China has also declared that its military is "ready to fight" after completing large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan recently.

Enduring partnership

The Philippine-US relationship is deeply entrenched given the two countries' strong historical and cultural linkages, shared commitment to democracy and human rights, and the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

President Marcos earlier said that partners, like the US, "will be more than willing to aid us in developing our capabilities and making the necessary investments to ensure that we achieve our shared goals for the country and for this region."

On the other hand, the US has stated that it will "continue prioritizing investments in a combat-credible military that deters aggression against our allies and partners in the region, and can help those allies and partners defend themselves."

Such enhanced defense and military ties with the US is aimed at deterrence, and as President Marcos has reiterated, the additional EDCA sites are not meant for "offensive actions."

Finally, it is high time that the US and the Philippines, as strategic partners and long-standing allies, reinvigorate their defense and security relations. The Marcos administration's expressed support for defense modernization and strengthening alliances is indeed a step in the right direction.

 

 

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/04/13/opinion/columns/ph-us-alliance-an-enduring-partnership/1886899

 

[Joey G]

Change a few names... and it sounds like something that could have been written in 1940....