US President Barack Obama and President Benigno Aquino III in a joint press conference in Malacañang last Monday, April 28. AP Photo
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang is satisfied with the statement of President Barack Obama that the United States will keep its commitment to defend the Philippines.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the statements of Obama and other US government officials show a "consistency" in the position of the Philippines in the long-standing territorial disputes over the South China Sea.
Lacierda added that the Philippines can invoke treaties and the newly signed Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that the US has an obligation to help its ally.
"The fact that President Obama said 'The commitment of the United States to the Philippines is iron-clad' — there can be no greater assurance than that," Lacierda said at a televised press briefing on Wednesday.
Obama concluded his two-day visit here on Tuesday, when he reminded some 500 Filipino and American servicemen that the alliance of the US and the Philippines has been bound by the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) for over 60 years.
In his speech at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Obama cited a provision of the MDT which said that the Philippines and the US have pledged to defend themselves against external armed attacks.
"Our commitment to defend the Philippines is ironclad and the United States will keep that commitment, because allies never stand alone," Obama said.
His remarks came a day after he failed to categorically say that the US will indeed help the Philippines, stating instead that they do not intend to "counter" or "contain" the Asian giant.
But like Malacañang, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also believes that the US will aid its treaty ally if tensions in the South China Sea escalate into armed conflicts.
"Under the Mutual Defense Treaty, the United States will come to the assistance of the Philippines if our metropolitan territory is attacked or if our Armed Forces are attacked in the Pacific area," the DFA said in a statement on Wednesday.
The DFA explained that in a diplomatic letter in 1999, the United States affirmed that the South China Sea is considered as part of the Pacific area.
Obama has renewed calls for a resolution of the maritime disputes without coercion and intimidation, but he also reiterated the US' position against taking sides in territorial disputes.
"We believe that international law must be upheld, that freedom of navigation must be preserved and commerce must not be impeded," Obama said.
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