Marcos: Bilateral defense guidelines with US ‘responsive’ to present challenges

WASHINGTON — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said he believes  the new bilateral defense guidelines would be responsive to the challenges which are being faced by the country.

"Well, one, that is responsive to the challenges that we face and that approaches and finds ways to solve those problems or challenges on a multidimensional basis," Marcos said during a question-and-answer session at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Department of National Defense officer-in-charge Undersecretary Carlito Galvez and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have established the bilateral defense guidelines between the two countries to modernize the alliance cooperation "for a free and open Indo-Pacific region."

The said guidelines "reaffirmed that an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either of their aircraft or armed forces – which includes their Coast Guards – would invoke mutual defense commitments under the 1951 PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty."

Manila and Washington should expand cooperation on maritime security and maritime domain awareness, including through the continued conduct of combined maritime activities, including but not limited to joint patrols.

In a separate interview with reporters, Marcos was asked about the evolution of the treaty.

He responded that what was just finished were the guidelines of the new provisions of the treaty.

"We are not yet there. What we did in this trip and what we have managed to formulate are the guidelines pa lang doon sa mga magiging provision at saka magiging detalye," Marcos said.

According to a readout of Austin's meeting with Marcos at the Pentagon on Wednesday, they "lauded the conclusion of new US-Philippines Bilateral Defense Guidelines, which chart their vision for alliance cooperation across all operational domains."

"The two leaders underscored their shared desire to deepen bilateral planning and operational cooperation including an increased tempo of combined maritime activities, such as joint patrols, to support the Philippines’ lawful exercise of its rights in the South China Sea," the Pentagon readout said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News