The Philippine Online Chronicles

While the Philippines is ready to send humanitarian assistance to South Korea in case the escalating tension between North and South Korea erupts into war, it will not be sending soldiers.

"What is definite is we can provide humanitarian assistance to the South Korean government if and when we are asked to provide assistance," said Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

He said however that it would be unlikely the Philippines would be sending an armed force as it did with the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

"Are we ready if there’s a nuclear attack? Do we have a capability? It is being studied and at the moment we don’t have that capacity so we’re sending humanitarian [aid instead] if and when we need to send assistance,"  said Lacierda.

He added however that the Philippines would “honor whatever obligations that we have entered into,” following a statement by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile over the weekend that the Philippines has a mutual defense agreement with the United States dating back to more than fifty years ago, and might be compelled to support the latter in case of threats.

According to Article IV of the mutual defense pact signed in August 1951, “each party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.”

The United States is currently supporting South Korea in the conflict against the North. North Korea, on the other hand, is banking on its sole ally, China.

The leftist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) also reacted to Enrile’s statement, saying that the treaty with the United States is “a Cold War relic” and should be abandoned.

““It would be unacceptable to allow Philippine facilities to be used as staging ground by the US military,” said Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes.

“We have already junked the US military bases agreement. We can no longer allow the US unlimited access to our facilities to conduct their war operations,” he added.

No deployment ban

Lacierda said that despite the tension between North and South Korea, deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to South Korea continues.

There are currently 50,000 Filipinos in South Korea and at least nine in North Korea, with five working for the United Nations and four working for an international company.

"When the situation escalates in the Korean peninsula, that’s the signal for the government to suspend deployment to South Korea," Lacierda said.

Undersecretary Abigail Valte added that the government continually re-assesses the situation in Korea to determine whether deployment will continue.

“We should look at the developments in the next couple of days so that our OFWs will not be in harm’s way, to avert any possible negative developments,” she said. “Let’s wait and see what happens in the next couple of days. We are still hoping the tension will ease and pass.”