Malacañang upheld yesterday the extension of the RP-US Mutual Logistics Security Agreement (MLSA) as a boost to the nation’s security.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Philippines and the US have long-standing ties that have benefited both countries.
“Our bilateral relations with the US especially on security arrangements have been there and you can be sure we are extending this (MLSA) because it is in our national interest, because our historical ties with the US have been there for a long, long time and it serves the interests of the Philippine government,” he said.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the MLSA is part of the implementing mechanism for the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
“There is already an existing MLSA which is an adjunct of the VFA,” he said.
“What is written in the MLSA are details such as where will we buy (military) equipment and how will these (US military equipment) be amply protected when they are here.”
The MLSA contains “just the logistical supply of troops here, and it definitely does not presuppose fixed basing,” Teodoro said.
Last November, the Philippines and the US formally extended for five years the MLSA, which allows both countries to provide selected military supplies to each other when needed.
The extension of the MLSA was discussed for about a year before its expiration in November last year.
The US has similar military-to-military arrangements with 56 other countries and considers them executive agreements requiring no ratification by the legislature.
The Philippines signed its first five-year MLSA with the US in 2002.
Officials said there were no additional provisions in the new MSLA, and that the US does not intend to open new bases in the country.
Since 2002, hundreds of US troops have been regularly deployed in Mindanao under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines mainly in intelligence gathering and training to fight terrorists.
US forces also conduct regular civic-medical missions and engineering work.