MERGED: All About RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty/ VFA-MLSA and Related Issues

[budoyski]

sus kaning mga anti US troops mga hipokrito!...kusog kaayo mamalit mga american products nya cge sila bagulbol against sa mga US troops here in the Philippines....

[cobraKing]

hala rally pamo dha.. basaha lng ni na news pra mka amgo mo ani..basin nagtoo mo na masulbad nsad ni sa rally ang china..


Chinese jets intruded into Philippine space - military

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday (May 19) said it was validating reports that Chinese jet fighters had entered the country's airspace around the disputed Spratly chain near Palawan province but conceded it had no capability to detect and intercept the alleged intrusions.

Philippine military chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban said the military was checking the intelligence reports, but admitted that the AFP does not have the capability to detect or monitor such intrusions, and even if it does, it has no power to intercept them anyway.

"In terms of capability, No. 1, we don't actually have the detection and monitoring capability, we don't have radars to check if indeed they intruded into our airspace," he said.

"No. 2, if indeed we have that capability, we need interdiction. We also have no capability to interdict or to intercept, which is why the first option is to lodge a diplomatic protest," said Oban, who spoke at a Communication and News Exchange Forum sponsored by the Philippine Information Agency.

The AFP chief said he hoped that in time, "we can go in this direction, towards territorial defense."

"We need to come up with an effective detection and monitoring system most particularly in the Palawan area where we have vast maritime resources to protect," Oban said.

A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said the unidentified aircraft was observed at an altitude of about 5,000 feet.

The aircraft was spotted by the Filipino pilots of two OV-10 light attack and observation planes which were on a routine patrol mission near the Reed Bank, part of the Kalayaan group in the Spratly chain claimed by the Philippines.

"There was no provocation. They just flew over," the officer said.

He added that at that distance, there was no easy way to ascertain if the aircraft was indeed Chinese.

Ethan Sun, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson, said he could not comment until he had verified the source of the report.

The latest Chinese incursion into the Philippine-claimed area of the Spratlys occurred just two days before the visit here of China's defense minister, Gen. Liang Guanglie.

A Chinese Embassy statement said Liang will be making an "official goodwill visit" from May 21 to 25 at the invitation of defence secretary Voltaire Gazmin. He will call on Philippine President Aquino and hold talks with Gazmin, the statement said.

Oban could not say if the Spratly issue would be raised during closed-door meetings between Liang and defence officials.

The Spratlys archipelago, a reputedly oil-rich chain of tiny islands and reefs, is claimed wholly or partly by the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Brunei, Viet Nam and Taiwan.

China has insisted it has sovereignty over the entire archipelago - which the Chinese call the Nansha islands but which everyone else refer to as the Spratlys - and is moved to "enforce" its claim from time to time by flexing its military muscle in the areas claimed by its rivals.

In March, two Chinese vessels reportedly harassed a Philippine exploration ship at the Reed Bank, prompting the AFP to send planes and Coast Guard ships to the area.

Last month, the Philippines said it had lodged a formal protest with the United Nations over China's claim to the entire Spratly group and adjacent South China Sea waters, particularly the "nine-dotted line", a map attached to a 2009 Chinese letter that delineated China's claim.

Oban said the AFP was perfectly aware of China's military buildup, which he described as a factor in China's growing economic power.

But he stressed that he would not consider China's recent actions in the Spratlys as "bullying".

"At the AFP, we just do the mandate that's given to us. We patrol our territorial waters to make sure that we protect our maritime resources and that no one enters our territory and violates our maritime laws," he said.

Oban said the only way to ease tensions in the South China Sea would be for all claimants to abide by the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), which he said even China favored.

In 2002, countries with overlapping claims to the Spratly islands signed the DOC which was to serve as a nonbinding guide on how to tackle the disputes.

According to the Chinese Embassy, Manila is the third leg of Liang's Southeast Asian trip that includes Singapore and Indonesia.

The visit is expected to further advance Chinese-Philippine relations, "specifically military exchanges and pragmatic cooperation, thus enriching and enhancing the strategic and cooperative relationship between our two countries," the embassy said.

Liang, a member of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Committee and fourth in rank in the CPC's Central Military Commission, oversees the day-to-day operations of the People's Liberation Army, according to the defence department.

COPYRIGHT: ASIA NEWS NETWORK

[black_mamba]

mura jud ni clag mga korek oi! haha!

[vulture08]

maau unta ug mo donate nlang cla ug mga BAG-O nga gmit para sa atua sa nga PHILIPPINES ARMY...

[Visual C#]

Our country will be forever dependent on the United States for national security. We have no Air Force or Navy to speak of that can hold out against foreign intrusion (China). But we also can't just say no to China; we get a lot of our cheap goods from them, and not to mention the thousands of OFW's that are in Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland. So our government has to play off the United States and China to get what we want out of them, which is what the government has been doing for decades, ever since China opened up to world trade after Nixon's rapprochement with Mao.

All these nationalists and left-wing nutjobs are being wholly unrealistic and just plainly not fun to listen to anymore. There is NO way we can keep the Americans out, no matter how hard they try.

[Sand Man]

on other hand

These are photos of JSOTF-P (Joint Special Operations Task Force - Philippines).

Joint Special Operations Task Force - Philippines (JSOTF-P): April 2009

=================

News:

Visiting US forces in Philippines visitors no longer

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - A top official of the Philippines' Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (PCVFA) has confirmed claims by the Pentagon that between 550 and 600 US troops are based indefinitely in the country.

Most of the American soldiers, belonging to the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P), are in Mindanao (in southern Philippines), but "some are in Manila doing support roles like procurement," said PCVFA Executive Director Edilberto Adan.

The VFA has allowed the continued presence of the JSOTF-P in a strictly noncombat role, supposedly to advise, share information and conduct joint civil-military operations with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.


"They (US forces) are not allowed to engage in combat operations. Their presence is authorized by our government through the RP-US Mutual Defense Board," said Assistant Foreign Secretary Eduardo Malaya.

Malaya, who is also the spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said support by the US forces "for the AFP has degraded the capabilities of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group."

Terry Ridon, chairman of the League of Filipino Students, believes "the permanent presence of 600 US troops here is no news."

"It had been confirmed as early as 2009 by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. What surprises us is the foot-dragging of the Aquino administration in failing to stop such an indefinite stay in the country," Ridon said.

A PCVFA review of the May 1999 agreement, which started late last year, is "ongoing," Adan told the Inquirer.

The former military officer, however, did not say when the review would be completed.

Sometime in November, Adan said that the VFA review planned to "look at the most contentious issues and ensure the provisions continue to make this agreement relevant and serve the national interest."

Adan said the PCVFA had organized several technical working groups tasked with addressing different aspects of the VFA.

Contrary to claims by some VFA critics, the treaty had been aboveboard, he said.

Militant groups have called anew for the abrogation of the VFA, which was concurred in by the Senate on May 27, 1999.

Renato Reyes Jr., secretary-general of the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said President Aquino "has been so awestruck by US military might that he even went on a tour of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. A few months earlier, he joined US troops in target practice during the Balikatan war games."

"Given these actions by the President, we wonder how the so-called review of the VFA will end up. National sovereignty doesn't seem to rank high in the administration's priorities," Reyes said.

Reyes noted that there was no attempt from the Aquino administration to question the Americans' indefinite presence in the country.

"They're no longer visitors. They've become permanent fixtures in Zamboanga. Their presence is a strong argument to terminate the VFA since it is too vague and overboard," he said.

Reyes said the Palace review of the VFA was focused only on the unequal provisions in relation to custody of US troops who violated Philippine laws.

"The more essential question should be why the VFA is being used to allow the presence of an unlimited number of troops engaging in undefined activities for an unspecified period of time. The review will end up a sham if it will not result in the termination of the VFA," he added.

The Philippine Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 11, 2009, that the VFA was duly concurred in by the Senate and had been recognized as a treaty by Washington.

The high tribunal also noted that the VFA was "simply an implementing agreement to the main RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951."

Sometime in March 2010, the high court upheld anew the legality of the VFA.

In a resolution, the tribunal upheld its earlier ruling on the constitutionality of the agreement, which allowed the presence of US troops in the country for joint military exercises after the 1991 pullout of the American military bases in Clark and Subic.

Washington regards the VFA as an executive agreement which does not require approval by the US Senate.

source

[peewee_toot]

maau unta ug mo donate nlang cla ug mga BAG-O nga gmit para sa atua sa nga PHILIPPINES ARMY...

maskin pa cgro og mo donate pa na sila og mga high tech nga gamit, madugta ra gihapon na ky wala may proper training nga gi apil sa paghatag sa gamit.

[roy2x]

tagam nganu btaw ning mga pinoy mao pay tabangan mao pai mo reklamo. kung tagaan nimo ug pagkoan imo pang kamot hangtod bukton apilon ug kuha paeta.

[trazee]

sus kaning mga anti US troops mga hipokrito!...kusog kaayo mamalit mga american products nya cge sila bagulbol against sa mga US troops here in the Philippines....

anah!! di mopalit ug samsung or nokia ky APPLE jud..

[Untrue]

Unsa na man ang military standard diri saa Pilipinas lungi gihapon? Naa bai tanke de gyera ang Pilipinas? Bisan tanke na sa tubig. Sus nindot man taha tan-awn kung naa man lai usa ka artillery tank ang Pilipinas. At least ma-proud lang ko gamay sa atong military ba. Sige lang ta'g paluyo sa US ani?