By Joel Guinto and Clarissa Batino
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
Philippine Defence Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino (second right) speaks during a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo in Manila.
Manila: The Philippines will hold talks with the US on boosting American troop levels there as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to counter southern insurgents and China’s push for more influence in the region.
The two sides will discuss rotating more US troops through the Philippines, joint military exercises and stationing equipment in the country to address natural disasters, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said at a briefing on Monday in Manila. The talks will start on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Carlos Sorreta said.
The Philippines is strengthening its US alliance and modernising its military to counter what it sees as a Chinese move for greater sway in a region rife with disputes over the ownership of fish and gas-rich waters of the South China Sea. The government also wants to contain an insurgency in the southern Mindanao region, where US troops have conducted counter-terrorism training since 2001.
“As an American ally, the Philippines would benefit from increased US presence,” said Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research. “Expect China to react negatively.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney also declined to comment when asked about possible negotiations, though he cited a move by President Barack Obama’s administration to rebalance its foreign policy toward a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
“We need to be fully engaged throughout the region, both economically and when it comes to security matters,” Mr Carney said.
Weapons Upgrade
The Philippines plans to spend 75 billion pesos ($US1.7 billion) in five years to buy ships, helicopters, and weapons to bolster defense, Mr Aquino said in December after enacting amendments to a 17-year-old military modernisation law.
In June, the Philippines protested what it called “the massive presence of Chinese military and paramilitary ships” around territory it claims in the South China Sea.
“At the front lines of ensuring the security of our people and the territorial integrity of our nation is the profound partnership between diplomacy and defense,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said at Monday’s briefing in Manila. “We have to strengthen both if we are to secure our people and our nation and to improve its response to natural disasters.”
Mindanao Bombings
At least 16 people were killed and scores injured by bombings in Mindanao in the past month, police and military said. An improvised bomb exploded in Maguindanao on August 10 as troops clashed with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a group that had separated from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that’s in peace talks with the government.
Groups trying to derail the peace agreement may be behind the bombings and the government will offer a reward for their capture, Mr Aquino said August 8.
The Philippines topped a list of 10 countries most affected by natural disasters in 2012, with 2360 deaths, according to a report by Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.
Bloomberg
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