President Rodrigo Duterte’s office said the Philippines is not getting enough military assistance from its most powerful ally, the United States, hence his recent ultimatum for the country to “pay” for its troops to stay in the Philippines.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque defended Duterte’s controversial February 12 remarks on Monday, February 15, in response to criticism the Chief Executive made the Philippines sound like it was “extorting” from a valued ally.

To prove Duterte’s point, Roque flashed a chart from a Stimson Center report showing the Philippines received the least amount of counter-terrorism aid among 12 countries in the list, from 2002 to 2017.

Roque then highlighted that Pakistan got $16.4 billion, compared to the Philippines’ $3.9 billion.

“Pakistan got $16 billion. We think we should get something similar or close to that amount but definitely not the amount we’re currently getting,” said Roque.

However, the chart covers only counter-terrorism aid. The Philippines gets a lot of other benefits from the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) – including assistance in disaster response and operationalizing the Mutual Defense Treaty which experts have said serve as a deterrent to West Philippine Sea incursions by Chinese forces.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr himself has said it is “more beneficial” for the Philippines to have the VFA continue.

Those who got more counter-terrorism aid than the Philippines, according to the Stimson Center report, are also mostly Middle Eastern or African countries that suffer more from terrorism than the Philippines.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan are all higher on the 2020 Global Terrorism Index than the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy said last April 2020 that the Philippines is the largest recipient of US military assistance in the Indo-Pacific region, getting $650 million (P33 billion) worth of planes, ships, armored vehicles, guns, and other equipment, apart from training Filipino soldiers.

Asked if Duterte was dissatisfied with these benefits, Roque said, “He wants compensation for use of our territory because it would be in a manner that would endanger lives of Filipinos.”

‘Not extortion’

Roque began his press conference by defending Duterte’s VFA remarks from criticisms by Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Panfilo Lacson.

“Hindi po ito extortion (This is not extortion),” said Roque.

He then mentioned a supposed principle in international law that a state incurs state responsibility when it uses a territory in a manner injurious to another state. But most principles related to this only refer to scenarios when a state violates a treaty or international law. There must have been a specific breach or violation.

Roque, meanwhile, used as an example the possibility of US’ enemies attacking the Philippines because of the presence of American troops, an eventuality that has not come to pass since World War II.

“‘Yan po ang sinasabi ng Presidente. Kapag tayo po ay naipit sa isang putukan sa parte ng America at ang kanyang mga kaaway, eh madadamay po tayo sa hidwaan. Napaka laking danyos ang pwedeng harapin ng Pilipinas ‘pag tayo po ay nadamay sa putukan sa isang giyerang hindi tayo kasali,” said Roque.

(That’s what the President is saying. If we get caught in the shooting between America and its enemies, we will be affected by the conflict. The Philippines could face great damage if we get involved in a war that we are not a part of.)

Money can be used vs COVID-19

Malacañang then sought to package Duterte’s VFA ultimatum as yet another way the President is ensuring funding for everything from pandemic response to water access for poor Filipinos.

“‘Yan po ay isang pagtaguyod ng nasyonal na interes ng mga Pilipino at dahil marami po tayong gastusin, lalong-lalo na sa COVID-19, bakit hindi tayo sumingil nang sa ganoon, ‘yung perang makukuha natin, magagamit natin para sa COVID response natin, para sa libreng pakain sa ating mga estudyante, Universal Health Care, para sa libreng patubig?,” said Roque.

(This is for the national interest of the Filipino and because we have many expenses, especially with COVID-19, why not charge so that the money we get, we can use for COVID response, free food for students, Universal Health Care, and free water?)

Duterte’s and Malacañang’s remarks comes as Filipino and American officials are negotiating the fate of the VFA. Last year, in January, Duterte had ordered the scrapping of the VFA, partly out of anger against the US for cancelling the visa of his ally, Senator Ronald dela Rosa, over his involvement in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Since then, Duterte had pressed pause twice on the process for terminating the VFA, a move hailed by his Cabinet members, and allies in Congress, including Dela Rosa himself.

Duterte’s backtracking had been due to increased tensions in the South China Sea and the pandemic, Cabinet members had said.

If Duterte does not intervene again, the VFA will be terminated on August 9. – Rappler.com