SUMMARY
MELBOURNE, Australia – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, March 6, said it is not the time to invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, even after four Navy personnel sustained minor injuries from actions of the China Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.
“I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty. However, we continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard,” Marcos said in a recorded interview, responding to questions sent by Philippine media in Australia.
The MDT, signed in 1951, means that both countries are compelled to come to each other’s defense in the event of an armed attack. The US, in a stat…