US reassures Philippines of stability in Indo-Pacific region

MANILA, Philippines — The United States has again reassured the Philippines and its other allies of its commitment to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea.

Rear Admiral Marc Dalton, speaking aboard the USS Ronald Reagan on Tuesday, said their presence and operations have and will continue to promote security and freedom in international waters.

The Ronald Reagan Strike Group is in Manila for a four-day port visit.

“This scheduled patrol is part of our routine training and operations that we routinely conduct throughout the region as we have for the last 70 years. This continued presence in the Indo-Pacific has supported our ability to defend our nation and our allies, but it also promotes our ability to safeguard freedom of the seas, unimpeded commerce, to deter conflict and coercion, and to promote adherence to rules-based international order,” Dalton said.

Dalton said the Ronald Reagan Strike Group is composed of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Carrier Air Wing 5, the Destroyer Squadron 15 and two other military ships.

He said stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region for the past 70 years has benefited all countries in the area. 

Dalton said routine patrols allow the US Navy Strike Group to communicate with other navies including China in the South China Sea, but emphasized they “received no specific tasking other than our routine mission.”

“So we’ve been directed by our chain of command, which goes up to the Secretary of Defense, to conduct this patrol but no specific tasking related to any current diplomatic issues,” he explained.

“I would say that any countries that are concerned about US commitment can look to the continued routine presence of Ronald Reagan Strike Group as reassurance. So we operate every year in this region and we have operated naval forces in the Pacific for seven decades as part of the Seventh Fleet and that is enduring presence… and that enduring mission has not changed,” Dalton stressed.

He added their visit to Manila was meant to allow US sailors the chance to experience everything the Philippines has to offer and have a chance to get to know some of the people.

“Of course, a big part of our visit is the long tradition, rich tradition, of personal relationships between the United States Navy and the Philippines going back over 70 years and our strong alliance between the United States and the Philippines, one of the most enduring in the Pacific,” he said.

On the other hand, a maritime law expert said a recognition from the US that Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal) is part of Philippine territory could discourage China from pursuing its plan to reclaim and militarize the disputed area.

Professor Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea, warned it is only a matter of time before China reclaims and presumably erects military facilities on Panatag Shoal, which is only some 124 nautical miles off Zambales.

“There are serious internal discussions in the US government that have been going on since last year where the US may declare Scarborough Shoal as part of Philippine territory,” Batongbacal told The STAR.

“I think the government is aware of these discussions and I would encourage the government to participate or at least talk with the US on this matter so that we have a clear understanding on why this (recognition) is being pushed,” he said.

Batongbacal said there is basis for such a declaration, since the US government “turned over” Scarborough Shoal to the Philippine Commonwealth government in 1937 based on official archives.

He said China already tried in 2016 to start reclaiming the area but was stopped upon strong warnings from the Philippine and US governments.

The shoal is currently guarded by several Chinese coast guard vessels controlling the entry of Filipino fishermen. The area was the site of confrontation between the Philippines and China in 2012 when the Philippine Navy tried to arrest Chinese poachers in the shoal.

Batongbacal said The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, in junking the nine-dash line claim of China over the South China Sea, also ruled that Scarborough Shoal was a traditional fishing ground of Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen.

Since Scarborough Shoal is marked with rocky outcrops even at high tide, it has its own “territorial waters” and therefore could be considered a disputed area outside the jurisdiction of any international tribunal, he said.

He said the Philippine government must prepare contingencies in case the US government issues such a recognition, whose implications are far-reaching.

Mutual Defense Treaty

In a separate interview with ANC, Batongbacal said if the US recognizes Scarborough Shoal as part of Philippine territory, the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty can be invoked in the event China reclaims the area and establishes a military outpost, as it did in several other parts in the disputed South China Sea where fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers were sighted.

“It would be a serious issue on how would they act on certain activities in Scarborough, the biggest danger of course is the possibility China will push ahead with its reclamation,” he said.

“Recognition on the part of the US means that you’re raising the possibility of actually defending the territory, say, from reclamation,” he added.

He said it was unfortunate the Philippines took a “step backwards” when it mentioned Scarborough Shoal as a traditional fishing area when it filed its case before the PCA in 2013. – With Paolo Romero

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