President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Tuesday expressed his support to a
plan that would allow the United States and Japan to use Philippine
military bases, saying it is “a natural circumstance” to achieve a
“credible alliance.”
He said the proposed access agreement will
not lead to the permanent presence of foreign troops since the country
will not allow US or Japan to establish their own military facility
here.
“If you want a credible alliance, then you will have to have
mutual training and that will normally occur within our territory or
the allies’ territory,” Aquino added.
He explained that the country’s “strategic partners” should be familiar with the terrain in case of a “disturbance.”
“There
are only two strategic partners that we have, it is America and Japan,”
Aquino said. “Kung hindi tayo makikipag-ugnayan sa kanila at mag-aayos
ng mga sistema kung sakaling may gulo na is palagay ko maling paghahanda
‘yon. Walang paghahanda ‘yon [ If we don’t coordinate with them and fix
our systems for a possible disturbance, I think that is wrong
preparation. That is the absence of preparation].”
“So kailangan
nila ng may knowledge na rin ‘nung ating terrain. Kailangan rin naman
natin ‘yung inter-operability with them [They need to know our terrain.
We need to practice inter-operability],” Aquino added.
The government is initially drafting a plan that would allow US or Japan forces to spend more time on Philippine bases.
Defense
Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had said it is looking to give the US and
Japan greater access to its military bases, as it seeks to counter what
it perceives as a rising security threat from China.
source: Manila Times
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