ShareThisFilipino and American soldiers hold war drills amidst N. Korea nuke threat
UNGLE SURVIVAL. Philippine Marines demonstrate for U.S. Marines how to make a jungle trap to capture wild animals for food. During Balikatan 2013 jungle survival training, Philippine Marines also showed their U.S. counterparts how to produce fi re using bamboo and to build makeshift shelters. Balikatan is an annual exercise aimed at ensuring interoperability of the Philippine and U.S. militaries during planning, contingency and humanitarian assistance operations. (Photo courtesy U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City (PinoyNews) – Amid North Korea’s nuclear threat, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario disclosed that the United States may be allowed to open again military bases in the Philippines in case of “extreme emergency” even as American and Filipino forces are undergoing military exercises called Balikatan.
This developed as US Secretary of State John Kerry and the White House are monitoring the situation in the Korean Peninsula amidst hopes that a dialogue with Pyongyang could open to diffuse tension in the region.
Kerry visited Northeast Asia and offered an olive branch to the North, although he emphasized that Pyongyang should first show its seriousness about denuclearization.
After meeting Secretary Kerry in Seoul, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said her administration will push for dialogue with North Korea as part of efforts to build mutual trust.
This as North Korea’s military on Tuesday issued an “ultimatum” saying it would launch retaliation against South Korea without warning if “anti-North Korean” activities continue in the South.
In Malacanang, the Philippine government continues to monitor the developments in the Korean Peninsula particularly North Korea’s plan for a missile test, according to Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO), pointing out that the Palace is alarmed by North Korea’s planned missile launch.
“We are certainly disturbed by the provocative actions being taken by North Korea but, of course, our number one priority is to make sure that the Filipinos, who might number as much as 40,000 if I’m not mistaken, that we’re doing what we can to keep them out of harm’s way,” Carandang said.
“Well right now our Constitution does not allow that (setting of new American or any foreign military bases) but in cases of extreme emergency then there are extreme measures to be undertaken… maybe this is one of them,” said Gazmin, without elaborating, saying it constitutes “cases of extreme emergency.”
The defense chief made the statement when asked if the United States can set up military bases in the Philippines “in case something happens” in the face of explicit nuclear threats by North Korea, citing the Mutual Defense Treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines..
Del Rosario supported Gazmin’s stand.
Many leaders and lawmakers also supported the stand of the two Cabinet members even as it immediately drew criticism from others, claiming allowing the U.S. bases again violates the Philippine Constitution.
Washington is continuing to pin hopes on a role by Beijing and Moscow in dissuading Pyongyang from taking further provocative steps.
“We are engaging with the Chinese and the Russians, as well as others, to urge them to prevail upon the North Koreans, using their specific influence to ratchet down the behavior and the rhetoric,” said a White House official.
North Korea specifically took issue with an anti-North Korean rally in downtown Seoul by conservative groups, in which they burned a portrait of the North’s late leader, Kim Jong-il, father of the current ruler, Kim Jong-un.
The performance, reported by South Korean media, coincided with the North’s massive celebration of the birthday of its founding leader, Kim Il-sung, dubbed the Day of Sun.
Gazmin said while the government does not allow any foreign military to set up a permanent base at the moment, there is increased rotational presence of American troops in the country who are involved in exercises and training.
While the 1987 Constitution bans permanent foreign military bases in the country, American maintains close military ties with the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Through the MDT and VFA, US military forces have actively engaged their Philippines counterparts in bilateral exercise such as the ongoing “Balikatan,” which is now on its 29th iteration.
The US also has about 500 forces temporarily deployed in Mindanao under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P). JSOTF-P, which operates under the Special Operations Command, has maintained its presence in the south since 2002.
Last week at the opening of the Balikatan exercise, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said the Philippines is bound to help the US in case North Korea will make good its threat of a nuclear attack.
Tensions have run high on the Korean Peninsula for months, with North Korea testing a nuclear device and its intercontinental ballistic missile technology.
The reclusive communist state has also issued almost daily threats that have included possible nuclear strikes against South Korea, Japan and the United States.
U.S. and South Korea said they believee North Korea in the coming days may test a mid-range missile designed to reach as far as Guam, the U.S. territory in the Pacific where the Pentagon is deploying a land-based missile-defense system.