The Department of National Defense and Armed Forces of the Philippines welcomed Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte’s openness to have joint exercises with China but said a framework or agreement is needed before it can materialize.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana the agreement would determine where the exercise will be held, what units will participate, until when it will be held as well as the purpose for such undertaking.
“Yes, I heard him say that during his presscon yesterday. That's perfectly fine with us. But first we have to come up with a framework (agreement or understanding) that will determine where, what units, duration of patrol, purpose of patrol, communications between forces, etc,” Lorenzana said.
Duterte, during his visit to China's flagship destroyer Changchun that docked at the Sasa Port in Davao City, said China and Philippines can have joint exercises in Sulu Sea.
The two countries both have claims in the West Philippine Sea.
Agreement needed
Lorenzana also said there are a lot of things to coordinate as the exercise, if ever, will be the first with the Chinese government.
“This is important because they will be entering our territorial waters. And if their sailors will get on land there maybe a need for a visiting forces agreement to be concurred by the Senate,” he said.
He said they will consult their lawyers first regarding the President’s plan.
Meanwhile, Defense public affairs service chief Arsenio Andolong said they welcome every opportunity to forging stronger defense ties with other countries, especially as the country now face threats which necessitate responses on an international scale.
“In addition, it is customary for various armed forces to train together to become familiar with each other. Having joint military exercises with other countries will benefit us since these will expose our troops to new doctrines and new technology,” he said.
He said the exercises will also allow the defense department to assess how their own doctrines fare against our foreign counterparts.
He agreed that military exercises between nations have to be covered by an agreement, and the details and focus would be subject to discussions.
For his part, Armed Forces chief General Eduardo Año said the military is open to the conduct of joint naval exercises not only with China but also with other countries.
“We have so much to learn from each other specially if we focus on HADR (Humanitarian and and Disaster Response), anti-piracy, and counter terrorism scenarios,” he said.
“But before we can embark on these activities, both countries must enter into defense/military agreement like Visiting Forces Agreement to define the term of reference or protocol and must be in adherence to to existing agreement with other allied countries,” he said.
He said Sulu Sea is a good venue because “it will provide excellent real life scenario to improve and hone our maritime security capabilities.” — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News
SOURCE: GMA Network
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