Frontliner

The Philippines’ defense posture improved dramatically in literally a few weeks.

The historic trilateral summit meeting held in Washington forged a strong security partnership between the US, Japan and the Philippines. The security partnership agreed upon by the three leaders is seen by analysts to be just a notch short of a NATO-type defense arrangement.

In addition, the three countries pledged intensified development cooperation – especially in building the Luzon Economic Corridor. This corridor – from Clark in Pampanga to the Batangas port – represents the most dynamic area in the Philippines. The three regions covered here, abstracted from the rest of the country, have a per capita GDP exceeding that of Malaysia. It will benefit from dramatically increased infrastructure support and investment flows from our partners.

Currently ongoing, the annual Balikatan military exercises is the largest ever held. About 16 countries are participating either by sending troops or observers to the exercise. This underscores the greater attention paid by the world’s powers to the situation in the South China Sea. Notably, the US is bringing in some of its most advanced missile systems to the exercise.

This week, France has offered to initiate talks for a separate Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between our two countries. The proposed VFA will supplement the existing agreement we have with the US. It opens the door to more such agreements to be forged with other allies.

Beijing is certainly not happy with the breathtaking improvement of our defense posture. Her diplomats hector us at every turn, often intruding into our sovereign security decisions. But the wider global attention given to the situation in the South China Sea is due in large part to aggressive action taken by China in the contested area. This situation is the outcome of encompassing territorial claims by China that have no basis in international law.

The enhanced defense posture adopted by the Marcos administration is certainly a departure from the more passive posture adopted by the previous administration. It certainly has better support from our public. Filipinos prefer closer cooperation with the US and