Commentary on Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement

By Christian Chua

In 2013, the Philippines recorded a GDP growth of 7.2%, which is the second highest in the Asian region. For the next two years, the Philippines will see its GDP grow by 6-8%. This forecasted growth rate is one of the highest in the regions. However, security risk is still a primary concern of Filipinos and foreign investors.

After years of insurgency and terrorism, internal security risk has been relatively well managed by the government. Instead of pursuing a pure military solution, the government has implemented a series of socio-economic programs that addresses the root causes of local insurgency. The government and the two major Muslim rebel factions have entered into peace agreements. The communist rebels are still existing, but their influence has significantly diminished. The main security threat are those terrorist organizations who are loosely affiliated with Al Qaida. Although small number in size, these terrorists continue to ply their kidnap and ransom “business” in the Mindanao area. The Philippine army, together with technical and intelligence assistance from the United State army, has been focusing on pursuing these terrorists in the jungles of Basilan, Sulu and nearby islands.

External security risk in the Philippines is focused on the claim on the Spratly islands. Some claimants, including the Philippines, have agreed on non-violent settlement. However, these agreements are not truly followed. Every country, who has physical presence in the islands, continues to cement their claims on the islands by building physical and permanent structures. These structures serve research, humanitarian and military purposes. A violent resolution to these claims may be far-fetched, but continued non-resolution will be detrimental to our country’s interest. Will some countries turnover the islands to the rightful owner after siphoning all the natural gas and oils in the island?

Hence, give the internal and external security risk profile above, the Philippines have the adequate capability to address internal security threats, but lacks the capability to addressits external security and economic interests.

The Philippines spends less than 1% of its GDP for military. The Philippines has no current fleet of jet fighters, while the other Spratly claimants have multiple fleets of jet fighters, submarines and other aerial/naval military vessels. Hence, the Philippines need a military ally for support in peacetime and war situations. Take the Yolanda event, rapid response requires aerial transportation vehicles, such as helicopters and cargo aircrafts. The Philippines military has less than 3 cargo aircrafts and less than 40 helicopters. Such capacity is hugely inadequate in addressing this magnitude of natural disaster. The United States military was able to fulfill this gap within short notice. Hence, a military agreement with the United States makes a lot of sense given our lack of resources in this area.

As much we need the United States military, these arrangements should be scrutinized to a reasonable degree to ensure that such acceptance will no diminished our rights as Filipinos.