Gibo: Phl not seeking conflict, only asserting rights in WPS

The Philippines has no intention to provoke any conflict over its claim to the West Philippine Sea, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. stressed on Monday. 

In a media interview in Pampanga, Teodoro said the recent collision incident between the vessels of China and the country's resupply ships in the Ayungin shoal "did not warrant any invocation of the Mutual Defense Treaty" between the Philippines and the United States. 

The defense chief said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, in a phone call, reiterated Washington's commitment to help the Philippines under the MDT after the Ayungin collision incident. 

"However, this operation is a sovereignty operation of the Philippine government and the situation did not warrant any invocation of the Mutual Defense Treaty," he stressed. 

The Philippines is "very conscious of the fact that we are not looking for war, we are not seeking conflict but we are merely asserting our rights."

He said this assertion is warranted by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other relevant Philippine laws. 

"These operations are done within areas where the Philippine government has every right to operate and that is simply what we are doing, and in such a case not only the United States but other governments have chimed in in support of the Philippines." 

The Philippine government is acting and operating based on the rules-based international order, international law and the UNCLOS, "so I think we are asserting the same thing and that is the predicate on which not only the United States but several other countries operate with us in this area," he added. 

Teodoro also emphasized the relevance of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA sites in protecting the Philippines' territorial sovereignty. 

"The Philippine government, together with the United States government as our treaty partner, and other governments are helping to make Philippine defense resilient and robust —, the protection of the Philippines as a structural and integral political entity in the world means the propagation of rules-based international orders and norms," he said. 

Teodoro said the cooperation would mean freedom of navigation for a host of other nations in the South China Sea and in the West Philippine Sea and the establishment and advocacy of international law for the whole world.

The US is helping the Philippines strengthen the country's defensive posture, including the assertion of its legitimate rights in the WPS, with the EDCA sites, which are technically located in Philippine bases.

"Therefore, our interoperability with other countries is a Philippine question. Now for the EDCA facilities inside Philippine bases, it will be a question of arrangements between the US and the Philippines — which of our allies can be allowed to use these facilities," he said.