US forces to follow Phl Constitution, if...

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang assured the people yesterday that the provisions of the Constitution would be followed if the United States were to be allowed to station forces at military bases in the Philippines if war breaks out on the Korean peninsula.

“That has to be studied in line with the constitutional provision prohibiting foreign bases. Again, these are only options,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.

Lacierda said Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin explained that the context of his statement on Friday about the return of US bases is that the basing would be temporary and could only happen if “there was going to be an actual shooting war.”

“But, again, these are scenario-building options that the secretary of national defense is mandated to do. Part of his mandate is to build, to look into several options, several scenarios, in case of conflict, if the Korean peninsula conflict would escalate,” Lacierda said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Saturday echoed the statement of Gazmin, citing a treaty between the allies.

Del Rosario was responding to a question about whether the Philippines, a former US colony, would allow the stationing of American troops on its soil in case war breaks out between the US and North Korea.

Tensions had escalated over the Korean peninsula after North Korea conducted a rocket test last December and a nuclear test in February.

Gazmin said the government was prepared to undertake “extreme measures,” including allowing US bases in the country, in the event of an “extreme emergency” in the Korean peninsula.

The US and Philippines are allies based on the 1951 mutual defense treaty.

Re-electionist Sen. Loren Legarda reiterated yesterday that it would take congressional approval before any foreign military bases could be set up in the country.

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, noted that the Constitution sets the requirements for the return of foreign military bases to our territory.

She said that the President has the say whether the country will allow the US or any other country to set up bases here in view of the threat from North Korea.

“Congress shall have to do its duty to provide the check and balance when the time comes that the President, as chief architect of our policy, will see more military presence as necessary for the safety of our people and the entire region,” Legarda added.

Sen. Ralph Recto had expressed support to the proposal to allow the US to temporarily put up a military base in the country in view of the tension between North and South Korea.

As an ally nation, Recto said the Philippines should be ready to help the US once North Korea attacks South Korea or any of its allies in the region. 

He said the Philippines should not be alarmed, noting that the country is geographically farther from Seoul than Japan or Guam.

But Recto said the US and Philippines should practice reciprocity under the Mutual Defense Treaty once any of them are attacked.

He said the government’s first priority should focus on the contingency plans and evacuation efforts for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). 

Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile, a senatorial candidate of United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), welcomed yesterday efforts of the US and China to tame North Korea, which continues to threaten its neighbors with nuclear war.

He said signs point to a de-escalation of tensions in the Korean peninsula.

“I, along with the thousands of overseas Filipino workers in South Korea, Japan and Guam, welcome this development in our hope for peace in the Korean peninsula,” Enrile said.

He said the Philippines is always burdened with the problem of mass repatriation of Filipinos from conflict areas like Syria and possibly South Korea, Japan and Guam.

“Our OFWs work to be able to send money back home for food, shelter, education and other expenses. The last thing they want is to be caught in the middle of a war,” Enrile said.

The militant party-list group Anakpawis accused yesterday Gazmin and Del Rosario of virtually dragging the Philippines into war by saying that the country would welcome the return of US military bases should war break out in the Korean peninsula.

“Their statements manifested reckless show of puppetry amidst the extremely volatile situation in the Korean peninsula,” said Anakpawis party-list chair Randall Echanis. – With Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero, Ding Cervantes