The Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, should take the lead in reviewing the 73-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the Philippines and the United States, Senator Imee Marcos said Sunday.

“The Philippine government should take the lead while negotiating, and the Department of Foreign Affairs should be at the forefront. I’m worried because sometimes the Department of National Defense (DND) speaks harshly,” Senator Marcos said in a radio interview.

She floated the idea of reviewing the defense pact following the “barbaric and inhumane” actions committed by the China Coast Guard (CCG) in the West Philippine Sea.

Last week, the Philippine Coast Guard slammed the CCG for “intentionally ramming” a Philippine vessel carrying a sick member of the Philippine Navy from Ayungin Shoal.

According to Senator Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the MDT should be reviewed to provide clear definitions of what constitutes an armed attack.

“We’ve seen China’s actions and all the things they’re doing. None of these can be considered armed attacks under the MDT; they’re all in the gray zone,” she said in Filipino.

“The question we should ask the Americans is what exactly constitutes an armed attack under this treaty,” she added.

Mutual defense

Signed in 1951, the MDT’s Article IV states that each party — the US and the Philippines — “recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.”