Inside Philippine politics & beyond

US agrees not to bring in nukes into the Philippines

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By Raïssa Robles

Manila and Washington are CLOSE to signing an agreement that will see more American troops, more planes and warships but no nukes coming into the Philippines in what both sides euphemistically call “expanded military presence.”

Today, after the eighth round of negotiations –  a far cry from the acrimonious talks that were held in the 1990s to renew the presence of US military bases – both sides agreed to “key points.”

A press release issued by the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) includes a commitment by the Americans not to bring nuclear weapons into Philippine territory. It also summarized the following key points:

The draft agreement, which is anchored on mutuality of benefits, states that United States access to and use of Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) facilities and areas will be “at the invitation of the Philippines and with full respect for the Philippine Constitution and Philippine laws.”

In addition, in compliance with the Philippine Constitution, the agreement will also state the understanding of both sides for the United States “not to establish a permanent military presence or base in the territory of the Philippines.”

Furthermore, the United States has agreed that any equipment and materiél that the US military may bring into the country “shall not include nuclear weapons.”

The agreement will have robust provisions on protection of the environment, human health and safety.

No press conference was held following the talks.

Neither side said how long the expanded rotational presence agreement is good for.

Or if problems over jurisdiction of criminal offenses committed by American soldiers – that surfaced with the Visiting Forces Agreement – will be clarified by this agreement.

The agreement will come into effect during the years when predictions on China are quite mixed. Some quarters believe China will grow even bigger than the US economically and will dominate Asia politically and economically. While other quarters claim its growth will sputter due to a troubled economy and the China dream will remain just that.

In any case, the Philippines it seems has decided to throw its lot once more with the US in the belief that this is a far better choice than just giving up its islands in the West Philippine Sea without a fight. Is this the Bataan syndrome all over again?

The strengthening of US-Philippine alliance comes 72 years after both suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of Japanese forces. On April 9, 1942, US Major General Edward King met with Japanese Major General Kameichiro Nagano to negotiate surrender. Books that have been written on the Fall of Bataan and the ensuing Death March have glossed over the fact that the defenders, the prisoners of war and the fatalities in that horrible march consisted mainly of Filipinos.

China has recently and repeatedly warned the Philippines not to be a pawn of the US or its  proxy sub-state. But China, according to my sources, has also given NO assurance it will not gobble up Scarborough Shoal or any other part of Philippine territory.

And so the Philippines is literally caught between the rocks and the South China Sea.

Below is the press release of the DND. I would like to thank my colleague in FOCAP (Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines) for the copy:

MANILA, PHILIPPINES 11 April 2014 The Philippines and the United States Negotiating Panels concluded the eight round of negotiations here for a proposed agreement on enhanced defense cooperation, with both sides finding consensus on key points of a draft agreement.

Defense Undersecretary and Chair of the Philippine Negotiating Panel Pio Lorenzo Batino described the latest round of discussions as “very productive” and cited consensus on key provisions and modalities that would reflect, among others, full respect for Philippine sovereignty, non-permanence of US troops and no US military basing in the Philippines and a prohibition against weapons of mass destruction.

President Benigno S. Aquino earlier instructed the Philippine Panel to comply with and keep within relevant provisions of the Philippine Constitution and laws.

The draft agreement, which is anchored on mutuality of benefits, states that United States access to and use of Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) facilities and areas will be “at the invitation of the Philippines and with full respect for the Philippine Constitution and Philippine laws.”

In addition, in compliance with the Philippine Constitution, the agreement will also state the understanding of both sides for the United States “not to establish a permanent military presence or base in the territory of the Philippines.”

Furthermore, the United States has agreed that any equipment and materiél that the US military may bring into the country “shall not include nuclear weapons.”

The agreement will have robust provisions on protection of the environment, human health and safety.

“This round brought us much closer to finding full consensus, and the draft provisions on key points of an enhanced defense cooperation will be submitted to the President for his review,” said Undersecretary Batino.

For her part, member of the Philippine panel Ambassador Lourdes Yparraguirre, pointed out that the Philippines-United States alliance “”continues to be and must remain relevant”” and that in the framework of a dynamic and changing regional architecture, “”our only option is to make our alliance stronger if we are to maintain international and regional security.””

Stating that the agreement is “a step towards realizing that objective,” Ambassador Yparraguirre said that “as we strive to further enhance our security cooperation, we are looking into new dimensions of significant strategic and operational value.” She also cited potential economic benefits from the agreement resulting from multiplier effects of joint activities under the proposed agreement.

Undersecretary Batino emphasized that the proposed agreement would provide significant benefits to the Philippines, notably critical and timely support to the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, achievement of the country’s minimum credible defense posture, more expeditious humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and the provision of jobs and other economic opportunities through the local goods and supplies procurement that will be made by the United States military.

“Both the Philippines and the United States recognize these are valuable dimensions to this updated framework of cooperation, and we are working together for the realization of the full potentials of this closer defense partnership,” pointed out Ambassador Yparraguirre.
Highlighting the “maturing relations” between the two allies, Ambassador Yparraguirre said that the agreement being negotiated contemplates a “new model of security engagement” for both the Philippines and the United States.

“After 15 years of the Visiting Forces Agreement and given current realities, challenges and opportunities, the Philippines is ready for a heightened level of defense cooperation. This agreement – which should stand on mutual trust – is an idea whose time has come,” also stressed Undersecretary Batino.

The other members of the Philippine Negotiating Panel are Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya, DOJ Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III and DND Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessments Raymund Jose Quilop.

Comments

    • Leila favors janet over gigi since the former is the brain of the scam and knows all, including the amount of kickback to be given to the legislators, etc. Her testimony is first- hand knowledge and not hearsay – and therefore more valuable to the prosecution in proving “beyond reasonable doubt.”

      Gigi has appeared late and may be considered an “extra baggage” and could be dispensed with. Let her suffer together with her “beau” – anyway, they have enjoyed power and money for so long.

      • @kalahari, i like it.
        imo, the 25th senator wont give us an easy riding.
        being more powerful than any of the 24, she is hardened more than jln.
        she is not coming back unprepared…

        • Gigi’s counter-affidavit:

          In her 83-page affidavit filed with the Ombudsman on April 7, gigi blames Jose Antonio Evangelista, her former deputy in enrile’s office.

          “As COS of JPE, I had no participation or involvement, nor the legal capacity or authority to approve the selection or identification of the projects and beneficiaries. I had no participation in the project proposal review, release of funds, project implementation, accounting and reporting requirements. These were done by DCOS Jose Antonio Evangelista”, gigi said.

          Gigi also told the Ombudsman that her signatures on documents related to the releases of enrile’s PDAF allocations, were forged.

          Gigi likewise said that the three whistle-blowers who testified against her – Luy, Merlina Sunas and Nova Makalintal – had failed to establish that she accumulated ill-gotten wealth and benefited from enrile’s PDAF, the key elements that constitute plunder.

          Ruby Tuason’s earlier testimonies and the new tell-all testimonies of napoles may negate gigi’s defenses when the trial begins.

        • …such contents in her C.Aff. is a “low-down’…nasty at that!

          … ‘done’ under her very nose? Forged? ala Pogi style…forged signatures? Is that all these people can present…forgery?

          …3 senators, similarity of defenses…forgery? Very rare incredible defenses indeed.

          …Sandigabayan court surely will not swallow those defenses! Ano…sineswerte sila?

          …assuming those sigs were forged…Janet Napoles will tell…THEY FORGED IT!

          Why? …to make it appear the SIGS are forged indeed. But the SIGS are genuine as far as having them intentionally FORGED!

        • wait until gigi develops myoma, then she will change her story and sing as well. gigi is at the ripe age for myomas in the uterus.

      • Only Napoles may allow pronouncement of the biopsy results which should have been known three days after the biopsy procedure on April 8, 2014. But no announcements on the matter has been done.

        The doctors insist that surgery should be done ASAP because time is of the essence. But Napoles entertains second thought of having surgery. Napoles’ lawyer thinks that Janet’s confession is probably related to her sickness.

        • Forget sickness. Two NBI officers fired, Tuascon’s return, Jigi’s return, Napoles confession, it seems more than coincidence. The stakes are rising fast. Everybody has a price. But it seems that some are too stubborn or bluffing and the normal conduits in the “political market place” are not functioning well. Are the stakes getting to “all or nothing” level so that some are willing to pull the violence trump card? Or are deals still possible?

          Summary? Secretary Leila De Lima is naïve or a really a brave woman, throwing buckets of sand in the traditional Filipino political machinery.

          Post scriptum: WHERE IS BINAY? Too afraid of woman with balls? Tuascon, Jigi, Napoles, De Lima, Morales, Hinares… and Nancy is no match.

        • By “singing” before she went under the knife Jenny made sure her life is still relevant on this earth…immediately preop, intraop, and postop…

          A threat to her life may not always be due to her illness…

        • both napoles and her doctors are hypochondriacs and over exaggerate the issue. I have expected doctors to stage (whether stage 1 or 2) the pre-cancerous growths that justified the removal of napoles’ uterus and the 2 ovaries with her having having total hysterectomy. she will never have menstruation again. then, she will have another problems. with her ovaries gone, her female hormones are lessened and she will start to develop male characteristics as having facial hairs as well as hairs on her legs. her voice may even change and have deeper timber like those of men, among others.

          life theatening daw and cysts niya leading to profuse bleeding that leads to anemia, yet we have not heard of napoles having suffered anemia, or reports of her being medicated to address the anemia, or of her collapsing and losing consciousness due to severe loss of blood. all we heard was that she was having headaches and heavy menstrual bleeding.

          napoles was right though to talk to de lima and gave herself peace of mind before undergoing the 2hr operation.

    • …Gigi…snitch on him! He snitched on you!

      …both of you got snitching cases!

      AkShewwww!

        • Yes, I sure hope so. As Sen. Meriam says –
          “In an interview with radio dzMM, Santiago said: “What’s the reason why you’re coming back after eight months when you know that you will automatically be under preventive detention? You could have thought of applying as a state witness.”

          Santiago said Reyes can “absolutely” become a state witness. “What’s important is that the person is not the most guilty… The most guilty, naturally, are the senators,” she explained.”

          A state witness is simply a snitch. In the MAFIA world, a snitch is a target for lequefiying…
          A snitch tells the truth…snitch the truth!

          This is the only way to bolster the PDAF cases…convince ’em to snitch – TELL THE TRUTH!

  4. unWelcome Returnee?

    May she in turn become a whistleblower to complete the JPE puzzle on pork scams (i.e. PDAF).

    Gigi Reyes returns to Philippines

    “MANILA – Lawyer Jessica ‘Gigi’ Reyes, the former chief of staff of Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile, returned to the Philippines on Saturday 7 months after leaving the Philippines amid the multibillion-peso pork barrel scandal.

    “According to airline and immigration sources, Reyes arrived on board Philippine Airlines flight PR 105 from San Francisco International Airport.

    “She was secured upon her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International (NAIA) Terminal 2 by two security personnel in civilian attire and was whisked out of the terminal on a private vehicle.”

    SOURCE:http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/04/19/14/gigi-reyes-returns-philippines

  5. lifted from PDI’s: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/100728/what-did-erap-and-gma-promise-china…
    “China is not the party to talk about sticking to commitments and losing credibility if one fails to do so. China should recall that in June of 2012, it made a commitment to withdraw its ships from the Scarborough Shoal if the Philippine Navy withdrew its ships as well, in a deal brokered by the US. When the Philippine ships left, China’s ships remained as China said it had never agreed in writing to leave.”
    phl must be extra careful in doing bilateral talk with them. the paragraph above if true, shows how crafty they are.

  6. Been reading and following the island dispute between China and RP . In the first place will someone comment on how these dispute started. If that islands really belong to China, what took them so long to claim it. I don’t know how true but I heard that someone prominent did the lobbying to an ex PH President to allow the Chinese to do full exploration on this islands and areas that is PH territory and Eureka. If it is true, who is that prominent person and who is that ex PH President?

    • Ramos was short in doing the right things before at Mischief Reef’s. Our NATIONAL
      TERRITORY as inherited under the TREATY of PARIS and embodied in our Constitution was changed/redefined by the Philippine Government as ordered by UNCLOS….

      • Although in redefining our National Territory/boundaries by our Legislatures and approved by then President Gloria and decided by the Supreme Court to be Constititional it weakens our DEFENSE on those contested ISLETs and ATOLLs .

      • When Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany presented her guest, President Xi Jinping, of a 1735 map of china made by esteemed French Cartographer Jean Baptiste, it created quite a stir as it shows “china proper” as a landmass separate from areas like xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia and Manchuria. The Island of Hainan drawn in different color, as in Taiwan.

        One chinese netizen described the map as a “slap” from Merkel. “We always say some regions are inalienable parts of china since ancient times, but merkel told us that even in 18th century, those regions still did not belong to china.” (World Cartographer by Emily Rauhala/beijing 4/2/14)

  7. Will china imitate russia on land-grabbing?

    Without russia, mao zedong and his communist army can’t push out Chiang Kai Shek and his Kuomintang Army out of mainland china and into Taiwan in 1949.

    Also, without russia’s arms and planes, chinese regular army can’t push the UN armies under Gen. McArthur out of north korea and into the 38th parallel that now divides north and South korea.

    And finally, without china and russia’s arms and money, Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Congs can’t beat the U.S. in Vietnam in 1975.

    Russia and china are bosom friends and no matter what – they’ll help each other in times of need. With putin succeeding in Crimea and now East Ukraine and possibly other former soviet bloc nations like Moldovia and the Baltic Sea countries, his dream of a Putingrad, like stalingrad, may come true due to meek reaction from obama and western europe.

    If china continues with her misadventures in West Philippine Sea and east china sea and encounters stiff resistance from the U.S. and Japan, will russia help the bullies?

    Based on history, the answer is in the affirmative.

    • russia is not what it used to be. after perestoiska in the 80s, russia lost many of its territories like lithuania, latvia and estonia. they become independent and now part of EU. russia lost georgia too, ukraine as well. ukraine is landlocked and shares a border with russia making it easy for russian army to cross.

      there is a big body of water in the west philippine sea, and for russian forces to cross the water without being detected is unlikely. the moment they massed on the chinese border en route to the sea, military satellites will be pinging and alerts will be sent.

      when we evaded chinese blockade to replenish and resupply our troops holed in ayungin, US naval airplane unwittingly provided overt military cover. there was also phillippine air plane in attendance as well as a 3rd airplane from a friendly country. I bet, china has no choice but to give in. we have such a presence.