Those who are against the Philippines’ invoking the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US are right in saying it is not an end-all solution to help peacefully resolve our escalating tensions with China concerning the Spratly Islands. Of course, it’s not.

But faced with China’s display of irresponsible militarism, asserting its ownership of the entire South China Sea and shooing away the civilian vessels of its East Asian neighbors while they were plying their own territorial waters, you would think that our collective attitude should be: Let’s get all the help we can get.

Nobody is arguing that peaceful negotiation is the only sustainable solution to conflict. And nobody really believes that an actual Chinese invasion is in the offing. Even the top spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Commo. Miguel Jose Rodriguez, said China, like other nations, is a “responsible country” and that “invasion is a thing of the past.” 

But while China may not be looking to invade any of its neighbors in the region, its global quest for resources like oil, minerals and metals to continuously supply its unrelenting economic growth is as real as they come.

The Spratly Islands are believed to hold vast energy reserves that would be strategically vital to China’s economic interest, which is perhaps why it is bent on asserting its hegemony over the entire area. This, even as it professes that it wants only a peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence with rival claimants.

The Philippines has a mutual defense pact with the US—not a provisional arrangement but a treaty—and as a sovereign nation it has an inherent right to use this treaty in the interest of peace and security. Otherwise, why have a treaty at all when we are not prepared to invoke and honor it.

There is nothing wrong with exploring all possible collective security arrangements that could bolster our measly military strength, expand our defense options, and divide our costs and risks against any direct or indirect aggression.

This is precisely why in a previous editorial we called on Asean to take joint action on the Spratlys issue, first by putting the recent Chinese incursions into Philippine and Vietnamese waters on the immediate agenda of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), the region’s venue for political and security dialogs. We should push for stronger solidarity from Asean on the Spratlys issue since four of the six claimants are Asean members.

China seems to be taking its cue from the passive and rather wimpy Asean response in the past, particularly when no joint action was taken when it occupied the Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef in 1995. Individual Asean members must realize they can’t act on threats only when it directly concerns their own countries. They need to work together, to speak and act as one to project more strength, especially when dealing with a superpower like China.

It is in this same light, this forward-leaning strategy, that we welcome the proposed closer cooperation and coordination between the US and the Philippines to enhance our defense capabilities under the Mutual Defense Treaty.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US is “determined and committed to support the defense of the Philippines.” Rather than sniveling and being skeptical about this unequivocal expression of support, we should test it and compel the US to define and concretize it.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Sen. Alan Cayetano pressed for a more comprehensive list that should immediately address the need to boost the country’s maritime defense potentials. He also wanted to know if the proposed military assistance from the US would come in the form of grants, aids or credit facility.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan, who sits as vice chairman of the Senate’s defense and security committee, also said the Aquino administration should seek more specifics and implied that as a long-term ally, the Philippines should get what it rightfully deserves.

This is the direction we should be going. Let’s focus on the framework and the deliverables to make sure the treaty is favorable to us rather than quibble about its necessity. And we can do this even as we pursue parallel tracks of diplomacy, like those provided by the ARF and even the constant and stable trade relations between Chinese and Filipino business groups.

A vigorous national defense cannot exist without strong, security alliances with other nations. Let us not deprive ourselves the assurance that those foolish enough to threaten us would be confronted not only by the Philippines but its friends. ###