Primer: RP-US relations

Title

Language

English

Source

The Republic Volume I (No. 2) 1-15 October 1975

Year

1975

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

fHE REPUBLIC The World I! 1-15 October, 1975 11 Primer: RP-US relations I What is the present policy of the Phil ippines toward the United States? The Philippines maintains friendly relations and economic ties with the United States. In an effort to strengthen ties for mutual benefit, a review of existing treaties between the Philippines and the United States is underway. What is the nature of Philippine security arrangements with the United States? There are three basic agreements between the Philippines and the United States. These are: (1) the Military Bases Agreement (signed on 14 March 1947); (2) the Military Assistance Agreement (signed on 21 March 1947); and (3) the Mutual Defense Treaty (signed on 30 August 1951). As a colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines completely depended on the United States for protection. In turn the United States used the Philippines as a place to station military forces to protect its political and commercial interests not only in this country but also in the whole of the Asian region. Thus, American mil itary bases were established in the Phil ippines while it was still a colony under the United States. When the Philippines regained in dependence in 1946, the Filipino lead ers of the Philippine Government be lieved that because of the destruction of the country during World War II, the Philippines would not be able to defend itself against any enemy and, therefore, had to continue under the old military arrangements with the United States. This time it was necessary to sign the three treaties stated above be cause the Philippines was already a sov ereign state. What does the Military Bases Agree ment provide for? This agreement allowed the United States to establish, operate and main tain military, naval and air bases in the Philippines. The number and area of the bases have been reduced gradually over the years. Originally, the use of the bases was for a period of 99 years. This was later reduced to 25 years. The agreement will end in 1991, unless revised earlier. At present, are the military bases still necessary for the protection of the Philippines? The Philippine government is re viewing its stand on the further need for the bases, in consultation with the United States in the light of new devel opments in Asia. Some arguments against the con tinued presence of US bases in the Phil ippines are as follows: □ The Philippines is not in danger of external aggression; and □ US bases may provoke nuclear aggression by enemies of the United States who are not enemies of the Philippines. Is there actual harm done to the Phil ippines at present by the presence of military bases? Yes. Irritants have been created between Filipinos and Americans in the matter of jurisdiction over persons in volved in crimes committed inside and outside of the bases. Many Filipinos have been killed in such incidents. For example, a Filipino was killed while allegedly trying to steal a bicycle. Two Filipino fishermen were shot while fishing within the off-limits area of the Subic Naval Base. Another Filipino was killed in broad daylight by an American serviceman who claimed that he mistook the Filipino for a wild boar. In most of these cases, the Philippine Government filed protests with the American Govern ment with no result. The Americans in volved were either acquitted by the US court martial or were taken out of the Philippines by the US authorities while the criminal cases against them were still pending in court. Why does this happen? Are there no provisions on criminal jurisdiction in the Military Bases Agreement? There are provisions on criminal jurisdiction in the Agreement but these provisions are favorable only to the Americans. US bases: protection or nuclear magnets? First, the Philippine government has no jurisdiction over an American service man who commits an offense while in the performance of his military duty. It is the base commander who determines whether or not the soldier is on duty, and the commander issues a certification to this effect. The Philippine Govern ment could disagree with the certifica tion of the base commander, but the final decision is made through diploma tic negotiation and not by law. Second, when an American service man is accused of committing an offense over which the Philippine Government has jurisdiction, the American authori ties keep custody of the serviceman. For this reason, many accused Amer icans have been taken out of the Phil ippines even before hearing of their cases have been completed. In other countries, where there are American bases, the custody of an accused Amer ican serviceman rests with the host government. Has the Philippine government done anything to change the provisions of the Military Bases Agreement which are harmful to the Philippines? Changes in the agreement can be made only with the consent of the two governments. The Philippines has been negotiating with the United States over pany years at technical level. Pres ident Marcos is known to favor meetings at policy level where decisions could be reached more quickly. In its recent meeting on the military bases, assistance, and mutual defense agreement, the Foreign Policy Council recommended that changes be made in the agreements, that national survival demands their urgent review and the adoption of alternatives that best serve the national interest. What changes or gains have so far been made by negotiations? □ The lease period of the agree ment has been greatly reduced from 99 to 25 years. □ There were originally 23 bases and reservations held by the US. These have been reduced to only two major ones, Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base. □ All titles to base lands were turned over to the Philippines in 1956. The US Government used to claim ownership of these lands. □ The US Government has agreed to consult the Philippine Government whenever it needs the bases for military combat operations, for stockpiling of nuclear weapons and for installation of long-range missiles. What is the Military Assistance Agree ment? This Agreement provides for a pro gram of assistance by the United States to the Philippines in the form of military equipment. It also provides for the send ing of a US military advisory board to the Philippines. This is the Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG). It provides advice and assis tance to the Philippine Government on military and naval matters. Its expenses are paid by the Philippine Government. What kind of military assistance do we receive from the United States? Under this Agreement, the United States is committed to supply the Phil ippines certain initial equipment, sup plies and maintenance items. Additional equipment and supplies other than those surplus to the needs of the United States are furnished by the US but sub ject to reimbursement by the Philippine Government, which means that the Phil ippines has to pay for them or they remain properties of the United States. What is the Mutual Defense Treaty? This treaty provides that an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either the Philippines or the US or on the island territories under US jurisdic tion in the Pacific Ocean would be dangerous to its peace and safety and that each party would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes. What guarantee has America given for the national security of the Philippines? None. The terms of the Mutual Defense Treaty do not ensure the secur ity of the Philippines. There is no pro vision whatsoever for an automatic dec laration of war or immediate retaliation by the American government in case the Philippines is attacked. Would the United States come to the assistance of the Philippines if a foreign power attacks the country but not the American bases? At the hearings held by the Syming ton Committee of the US Senate, it came out that the United States is obligated to repel an attack only if the American bases in the Philippines were directly attacked. That is, there is no obligation on the part of the United States to repel an attack on the Philip pines if such an attack does not en danger the US bases. That was also the gist of assurances by past American Presidents (Eisenhower and Johnson): that the deployment of American forces in the Philippines was such that an attack on the Philippines would neces sarily involve an attack on American forces and hence would be instantly repelled. On July 4,1946, the Philippines entered into an Executive Agreement with the United States. This is the Philippine Trade Act of 1946. Why did we enter in to this Agreement? Our badly shattered economy after World War II forced the Philippines to seek economic assistance from the Unit ed States for the rehabilitation of the country. The Constitution was amended to include a provision in the Philippine Trade Act of 1946 which gave United States citizens equal rights with Filipinos in the development, disposition, exploi tation and utilization of all agricultural, timber, mineral lands and other natural resources of the Philippines. The amend ment came to be known as Parity. The Trade Agreement was later revised due to provisions which discrim inated in favor of American citizens. It became known as Laurel-Langley Agreement which took effect on July 1, 1956 and expired on July 3, 1974. How does the Philippines conduct its economic relations with the United States after the termination of the Lau rel-Langley Agreement? There is no trade agreement between the Philippines and the United States at the moment. The Philippines now conducts normal commercial transac tions with the United States as with any other country.

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