PHILIPPINE MILITARY ACADEMY, Baguio City — Armed Forces chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. yesterday cited the need to make more dynamic the 73-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between Manila and Washington.

Brawner made the remarks in a press conference following calls for a comprehensive review of the MDT amid the changing security landscape, particularly the increasing challenges the country is facing from China in the West Philippine Sea.

“The treaty was signed in 1951, and from that time until now, there has been an evolution in military affairs. Even the threats have evolved; we now see different kinds of attacks, not just kinetic or the usual military invasion that we saw during the Second World War,” Brawner said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier revealed an ongoing discussion on broadening the interpretation of the defense pact.

“There are ongoing conversations not to broaden the scope of the MDT but to broaden interpretations to make it more dynamic and not to fall into China’s trap of canalizing,” Teodoro said.

Brawner maintained that the review of the MDT should be addressed by higher-ups.

“So we believe that the treaty has to be dynamic as well, but then again, we would like to emphasize that this is a political matter that has to be settled by our political leadership,” he said.

National Maritime Council spokesperson Alexander Lopez also noted the need to consider an MDT review amid the consistent changes in the security landscape.

“For me, that MDT was established in 1951, and since then the strategic landscape has changed so much, so maybe it’s high time to make a review… it must be made relevant to the new security challenges,” he said.

Armed attacks

The Philippines has repeatedly filed diplomatic protests with Beijing over the “dangerous maneuvers and harassment incidents” its ships have been conducting against Philippine vessels and Filipino fishermen in the WPS.

The US has repeatedly reaffirmed that the MDT covers armed attacks on Philippine military forces, public vessels, or aircraft anywhere in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea.

US Indo-Pacific Command Chief Admiral Samuel Paparo has pointed out that the militaries of both countries are just instruments in preparing the options to prevent armed attacks.

“I think that armed attack is not necessarily a legal definition. I think it’s a diplomatic definition, and I also think that it’s a question — General Brawner and I are in uniform, and we are instruments of policy and not makers of policy,” he said.

“So, I think that it’s a diplomatic definition and not necessarily a legal definition, and my job is to prepare options, if so called, and number two, I’m an instrument of those options,” he explained.