Angara calls to reexamine the Phl mutual defense treaty

By Jason de Asis

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, November 25, 2010-Senator Edgardo J. Angara, vice-chair of the Senate Committee on foreign relations urged his colleagues to reexamine the Philippines' mutual defense alliances that could now be based on outdated assumptions in the recent hearing of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (LOCVFA).

Angara said that it is important to discuss underlying defense security arrangement between the United States and the Philippines particularly the other priority issues on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

“The worldwide political dynamics have undergone a drastic change over the past decades citing Russia as once treated as a pariah by the other nations because of their occupation of Georgia which has been formally invited by the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to take part in a mutual defense pact and joint military exercises much like the Balikatan,” he said.

He cited the historic 50-year military pact signed by UK and France to form a special military force of 5000 troops, and agreeing to test their nuclear armaments jointly. This agreement between two countries, which has been enemies for centuries, was almost unthinkable just a couple of years ago.

“There is a need to re-examine the defense pact between the US and the Philippines in order to cope with the ever changing security measures adopted by foreign countries,” he concludes. (Jason de Asis)