If elected president, Vice President Leni Robredo plans on equipping Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), modernizing the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and enforcing the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States.
In the crisis situation portion of “Bakit Ikaw? The Presidential Job Interview” on radio station DZRH, Robredo was asked a hypothetical question on China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea while she’s attending an international meeting in Washington, D.C.
The hypothetical situation puts the Vice President in an international meeting in Washington, D.C. where she was given by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) an intelligence report about China’s actions in WPS.
Robredo said she will furnish US President Joseph Biden a copy of the intelligence report and remind him about the MDT, the accord that stipulates that the Philippines and US will come to each other’s defense if they were attacked by external forces.
“Kung lulusubin na tayo, mayroon tayong (If we are to be attacked, there is a) Mutual Defense Treaty with the US. Naglalayon na kapag meron (This aims that if there is) aggression galing sa labas ay tutulungan tayo ng (from outside, we will be helped by the) US,” she explained.
Outside the MDT option, the Vice President said she would continue modernizing the PCG and AFP, as well as providing equipment to the fishermen to support their livelihood in the contested waters.
“Kasi iyong (Because the) presence ng (of) Coast Guard ang magbibigay ng (will give) confidence sa ating mga mangingisda na may nagbabantay sa kanila (to our fishermen that there’s someone to guard them),” Robredo added.
She also said that the AFP has to be ready to come to the PCG’s aid if it will need to augment its presence in the highly disputed resource-rich waters.
But such reactive measures need not happen because the presidential aspirant, the lone female candidate for this year’s polls, will make sure that the Philippines will have a “very apparent” presence in the West Philippine Sea.
“Kasi iyong ang kulang sa atin ngayon (Because that’s what lacking in us now),” she said.
The hypothetical question aims to put the presidential candidates in a simulated situation that will test their capabilities as a Chief Executive.
This is based on the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China amid Beijing’s aggressive stance in the region.