WALANG balak si Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na ipanawagan ang Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) sa Estados Unidos kasunod ng laser-pointing incident ng China sa West Philippine Sea.
“If we activated that, what we are doing is escalating the — intensifying the tensions in the area and I think that would be counterproductive. Besides, despite the fact that it was a military-grade laser that was pointed at our Coast Guard, I do not think that that is sufficient for it to trigger the Mutual Defense Treaty,” ayon kay Pangulong Marcos sa media interview matapos dumalo sa Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming sa Baguio City.
“So we are in constant contact, of course, with our treaty partners, not only with the United States but also our ASEAN partners and our partners here in Asia and that I think is the better recourse rather to go directly to the Mutual Defense Treaty, which again, I am very concerned would provoke the tensions rather than cool the tensions down,” ang winika ng Pangulo.
Naniniwala rin ang Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) na masyado pang premature na ipanawagan ng Pilipinas na gamitin nito ang MDT sa Estados Unidos laban sa pambu-bully ng China. (CHRISTIAN DALE)
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