DV RULES
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The United States stationing its forces on Philippine soil can only happen if the Korean peninsula situation falls under extreme emergency, a Palace official yesterday clarified.
According to deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte, the return of the US bases does not refer to the present situation.
She said the issue of the military bases only came after Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin expressed that the Philippine government may be receptive again for the US military forces to use the Philippine territory in case war erupts in the Korean peninsula.
It seems this issue began from the statement of Secretary Gazmin the other day about the tension in South Korea and North Korea where he said in cases of extreme emergency the US bases may come back, she added.
Valte explained that Gazmin was only giving an explanation on a certain scenario which was a part of his job as Defense chief.
The secretary was talking about a scenario and part of that is his job... to look into all the possibilities that could come more so in matters relative to national defense, the Palace official added.
Valte said the context of the statements of Gazmin was not for the establishment of new foreign military bases but only for emergency purposes.
She also cited that provisions of the 1987 Constitution have to be observed on the aspect of foreign military bases. First, what we observe here are what the Constitution stated when it comes to that issue, Valte said.
Article XVIII of the 1987 Constitution bars US military bases in the Philippines except after a new treaty between the two countries and a nationwide referendum.
Citing a treaty between the allies, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario also the other day said the US would be allowed to station forces at military bases in the country if it went to war with North Korea,
Our mutual defense treaty calls for joint action if either the Philippines or the United States is attacked, Del Rosario said.
It would then be logical to assume that in the event of an attack on the Philippines or on our treaty ally, the US would be allowed to use our bases, he added.
The US and Philippines are allied by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
In the early 1990s US forces vacated Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, two large facilities used during the Vietnam War, after a disagreement over rents.
In recent years the Philippines has been seeking to improve its defense ties with the United States amid a festering territorial dispute with China over parts of the South China Sea.
Some of its facilities are being used in ongoing annual joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, where the Pentagon deployed a dozen F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets.
More than 8,000 Filipino and US troops are taking part in the 12-day drills which end on Wednesday.
No need for US to use RP bases for now
According to deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte, the return of the US bases does not refer to the present situation.
She said the issue of the military bases only came after Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin expressed that the Philippine government may be receptive again for the US military forces to use the Philippine territory in case war erupts in the Korean peninsula.
It seems this issue began from the statement of Secretary Gazmin the other day about the tension in South Korea and North Korea where he said in cases of extreme emergency the US bases may come back, she added.
Valte explained that Gazmin was only giving an explanation on a certain scenario which was a part of his job as Defense chief.
The secretary was talking about a scenario and part of that is his job... to look into all the possibilities that could come more so in matters relative to national defense, the Palace official added.
Valte said the context of the statements of Gazmin was not for the establishment of new foreign military bases but only for emergency purposes.
She also cited that provisions of the 1987 Constitution have to be observed on the aspect of foreign military bases. First, what we observe here are what the Constitution stated when it comes to that issue, Valte said.
Article XVIII of the 1987 Constitution bars US military bases in the Philippines except after a new treaty between the two countries and a nationwide referendum.
Citing a treaty between the allies, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario also the other day said the US would be allowed to station forces at military bases in the country if it went to war with North Korea,
Our mutual defense treaty calls for joint action if either the Philippines or the United States is attacked, Del Rosario said.
It would then be logical to assume that in the event of an attack on the Philippines or on our treaty ally, the US would be allowed to use our bases, he added.
The US and Philippines are allied by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
In the early 1990s US forces vacated Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, two large facilities used during the Vietnam War, after a disagreement over rents.
In recent years the Philippines has been seeking to improve its defense ties with the United States amid a festering territorial dispute with China over parts of the South China Sea.
Some of its facilities are being used in ongoing annual joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, where the Pentagon deployed a dozen F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets.
More than 8,000 Filipino and US troops are taking part in the 12-day drills which end on Wednesday.
No need for US to use RP bases for now
