Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Saturday said that the government should bank on the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines to protect its sovereignty amid the presence of Chinese vessels in disputed waters.
Sotto said the country is “forced” to rely on the strength of the US military, its old ally, in case aggression grows in the West Philippine Sea.
The said treaty assures both the Philippines and the US will provide military aid to each other in the event that their metropolitan areas or territories in the Pacific are attacked by a foreign force.
“Ang nakalagay doon, kahit isang maliit na barko na pagaari ng gobyerno na nagkaroon ng aggression from another country, the treaty kicks in automatically. Talagang komportable ako dun, I rely on that,” Sotto said.
As of Friday, 183 Chinese vessels remained in Philippine waters despite formal protests. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. filed a diplomatic protest against China last week.
The Philippines does not have enough capacity to prevail in a military confrontation against China, claimed Sotto.
He said that while China ranks third with the most powerful army in the world, the Philippines is only in the 70th or 80th rank.
“‘Yung kapitbahay natin nasa top 10 sa buong mundo… The US is number one, two is Russia, pangatlo ang China. So paano tayo? Okay na kasangga natin ‘yung number one,” he said.
