The relations between the United States and the Philippines have made a huge amount of

advancement since William Howard Taft the first U.S. representative general of the nation and
subsequent U.S. president, depicted the archipelago's inhabitants as " our little brown brothers."
In the past the Philippines remote arrangement has been excessively resigned to US investments
and regularly used to advance the nation's own particular premiums. As the world progressively
turns into a multiparty domain the nation will need to put all the more in bringing the best
personalities to deal with The Philippines and the United States have a continuing partnership
that is focused around profound authentic and social ties. Did it serve our nations interest? Is
our own policy a shadow of the US Foreign Policy? Should we reinvent our Foreign Policy?
The Philippines gained its freedom from the United States on July 4, 1946, and conciliatory
relations were formally settled that day. The Military Bases Agreement and Mutual Defense
Treaty was signed in 1947 and 1951. The MBA permits the US military to create army
installations on Philippine domain. Through the MDT, both nations would help one another if
either one were to be assaulted by an outside gathering. In 1991, the Senate of the Philippines
chose not to amplify this procurement, preparing for the disassembling of the US army
installations all through the nation. After seven years, the VFA was signed which permitted the
rotational vicinity of US military constrains in the Philippines and for them to work and direction
with the nation's military.
The VFA gives logistical support to the Philippine military as it battles both conventional and
rising dangers. This support is evident in the Philippine battle against terrorism particularly in
Southern Mindanao. In addition, the US military vicinity in the Philippines moreover gives

military and mechanical preparing to Philippine troops so as to help the nation's sea security
capacity.
For the year 2012, the US has dispensed a sum of US $ 158.8 million in safeguard and
advancement aid for the Philippines. Its good they atleast have allocated money for us but let me
point out something that has started long before. First is the Balikatan exercises, which are
anticipated to enhance Philippine military force. The US force that take part in these activities
are situated in Japan. However, the Japanese individuals, particularly the occupants of Okinawa,
contradict the vicinity of US bases in their nation.
In the wake of exchanging operations to the Philippines, the US has said these activities are to
propel the Filipino military regarding innovation and weaponry acquired by the Americans. On
the other hand, these weapons are brought just amid the Balikatan practices and after the
Filipinos have been prepared, the Americans will leave with the weapons, crushing the practices
motivation. Filipinos therefore be trained and are prepared to use military innovation they don't
even have.
For the recent update, the Philippines and US made an agreement which that envisioned to
advance the implementation of the Philippine-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty(MDT) also known
as EDCA or the Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement. The EDCA is designed to promote
the interoperability, capacity building toward AFP modernization, strengthening AFP for external
defense, maritime security, maritime domain awareness and humanitarian assistance and disaster
response or HADR.
This will gives the US a free access to Philippine Military Facilities, free use of water and
electricity and they havent forget that we have a big issue about our energy supply thats why

we always have revolving blackouts and now we are giving them free use of it? Why not let
them pay for it since they are a rich nation.It was also mentioned that the number f the visiting
US personnel will depend on the scale and the frequency of the activities to be approved by both
parties. This also gives them a free access to the whole Philippines. Is America making us a
country of one big military bases? I hope not.
Second, the VFA anticipates that the US Forces will help in protecting our regions. But China
has been gradually infringing Philippine sandbars and waters through the years since the US has
left the Philippines in the 1980s. The US has yet to take care of this matter. Moreover, US
secretary of state Hillary Clinton expressed in 2013 that the US would stay neutral amid to this
clash. Furthermore, Pres. Barack Obama did not even categorically say in his joint press
conference with Aquino that the US will defend the Philippines when the tension with China
escalates into an armed conflict even with the EDCA. This is brought upon by the way that
China possesses generally $17.6 trillion of U.S. bonds. Consequently, endangering US-China
relations would in this manner endanger the US economy, which is presently the Americans need
instead of the security of Philippine grounds and waters. The US obtained what they want but the
Filipino people are being deceived.
As far as the Mindanao clash against the Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines is helped by the Americans
on the grounds that this matter is a greater amount of an inner and neighborhood issue, dissimilar
to the West Philippine Sea debate.
Third, the right now overarching concern in regards to the VFA is with respect to the liabilities of
U.S. fighters who have damaged the law on Philippine soil. US officers appear to have
discretionary insusceptibility at whatever point there are assertions to their criminal exercises.

Beside the instance of Jennifer Laude, an alternate assault episode, habitually marked the "Subic
Rape Case," including four US marines and Suzette Nicolas, a Filipina, happened in 2005. One
fighter, Daniel Smith, was sentenced to 40 years in jail while the other three were vindicated.
Nonetheless, there was a recantation in 2009 and three Filipino judges requested Smith's
discharge for a survey of confirmation showing Smith's blamelessness. Regardless, this pack
assault case has raised the issue of plausible continuous unlawful acts and crimes of US fighters
in the Philippines and how the VFA permits the US equity framework to mediate, coming about
the court processes for the most part in the troopers' support with acquittal or a better sentence.
In the Philippines, a U.S. national is liable to Philippine laws and regulations, which now and
again vary altogether from those in the United States and may not give the same insurances
accessible in the United States. Punishments for transgressing against the law can be more
serious than in the United States for comparative offenses. Persons disregarding the law, even
unknowingly, may be expelled, fined, captured, or detained. Punishments for ownership, utilize,
or trafficking in illicit medications in the Philippines are strict, and indicted guilty parties can
expect penitentiary sentences and fines. A native captured in the Philippines must experience the
Philippine lawful procedure to be charged or arraigned, indicted, sentenced and sentenced, and
for any advances.
But let us review how the US reacted about the Jennifer Laude Case. This is based on an article
made by Mitch Kellaway.The case rotates around the deadly strangulation of Laude in an
Olangapo City lodging, submitted while Pemberton was stationed with U.S. drives in the
Phillipines for military preparing activities under the Visiting Forces Agreement. On October 11,
Laude was found a lodge at the restroom with her neck broken. Pemberton was professedly

seen registering with the lodging with Laude in the early morning hours, and afterward seen
taking off alone in a matter of seconds from there on.
At the point when the wrongdoing was found, Pemberton was immediately accused of homicide
by U.S. authorities, however Philippine powers requested him be turned over to their
guardianship. But the U.S. consented to have Pemberton held in the Phillipines under joint
guardianship in late October.
The case has encouraged Filipinos, Filipino-American and American human rights advocates,
numerous who have required the undoing of the Visiting Forces Agreement, which was marked
recently. The understanding takes into consideration the expanded turns of troops, boats, and
different U.S. military resources through bases in the Philippines, which activists have contended
is against the diversions of Filipino subjects. The assertion is proposed, by Wall Street Journal,
to be a centerpiece in President Barack Obama and the Pentagon's new Pacific-inclining
worldwide military stance expected as a stabilizer to China's becoming quality in the district.
The primary concern with respect to the VFA is that it misuses US self-sufficiency under
Philippine power. This understanding provides for US drives the privilege to use our regions for
their own reasons, which has been mishandled and could perhaps accomplish more mischief
than great to our assets.
But let us also take into consideration the laws that the American have passed that benefited the
Filipinos. This is according to the website of the Philippines Embassy in Washington. That in
February 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law a provision recognizing the military
service of Filipino veterans in World War II and providing them with lump sum benefits. This is
beneficial to us and maybe this is their way of repaying those Filipino veterans.

The Bilateral exchange and investment cooperation keeps on serving as an element measurement
of the Philippines-US association. Philippine exports to the US estimated at $8.3 billion in 2013
essentially embody parts/semiconductor gadgets, articles of clothing, coconut oil, electronic
supplies and parts, electronic information preparing, different fabricates, sugar, prepared
nourishment and drinks, and hardware and transport, among others.
Regarding imports, the Philippines sources from the US materials and accessories for the
production of electronic supplies, telecom gear and electrical hardware, wheat, power generating
and specific machines, food stuff for animals and other nourishment and live animals, among
others. This is a great way of boosting our economy and industrial
In Agriculture, The Philippines is the tenth biggest farming fare business of the United States
while the United States stays to be the top single-country of destination for Philippine
agribusiness, fisheries, and nourishment items.
Also under this Bilateral Trade an Investment is the Philippines over arching goal of achieving
broad-based economic growth is supported by a new strategic development initiative of the US
Government called the Partnership for Growth. The PFGs three (3) focus areas are: improving
regulatory quality; strengthening the rule of law and anti-corruption measures; and improving
fiscal l performance. And tourism. The United States is among the Philippines top exchanging
accomplices, and it generally has been the Philippines biggest outside financial specialist. The
Philippines has been among the biggest recipients of the Generalized System of Preferences
system for creating nations, which gives particular obligation free get to the U.S. market. Key
fares to the United States are semiconductor gadgets and machine peripherals, auto parts, electric

hardware, materials and pieces of clothing, wheat and creature nourishes, coconut oil and data
innovation/business methodology outsourcing administrations.
In addition to other goods, the Philippines imports crude and semi-handled materials for the
production of semiconductors, hardware and electrical apparatus, transport gear, and oats and oat
arrangements. The two nations have a two-sided exchange and speculation system understanding
and an expense settlement.
The Philippines confronts various inward and outside dangers today. Given the present reality of
its military, it would be aggressive for the nation to handle all these dangers without an ally.
Let us review our Foreign Policy Doctrine uncovers how it has been characterized, and worked.
It is basically a non-self-assured Grand Strategy' under the shadows of a superpower.
Grand Strategy is characterized as "a basic stance adopted by a country vis--vis the rest of the
world; it may or may not be explicit. It is promoted by a political elite in competition with
other elite factions with substantial domestic political base."
Regardless of the way that the Philippines speaks to a moderately gigantic demographic,
financial and geo-vital worth, we have scarcely assumed a crucial part in the molding of the
more extensive global request - which definitely influenced our long haul national investment
and certainly gave in to a plenty of harming 'structural-conformity programs' and 'political
weight' by capable money related establishments and nations. Frequently, little nations, for
example, Qatar, Libya and Singapore had the capacity to play a more focal, dynamic and
emphatic part in their engagements with compelling nations and even assumed a vital part in
molding activities on the territorial and global level.

The ethical lesson is clear: paying little heed to a nation's size, what makes a difference is the
manner by which you casing, direct and actualize your outside strategy demarches with a
definitive reason for protecting your national investment. Dissimilar to the Phils., what these
numerous nations did was to "skillfully" underscore, if not overstate, their "vital" worth to their
all the more compelling accomplices and utilized this as an influence to concentrate most
extreme advantages and concessions from every two-sided and multilateral assention and
settlement they had marked. For example, Singapore, with a striking keenness, has adjusted and
even extended its ties with both China and the US. Qatar, a little Kingdom in the Persian Gulf, is
right now one of the major conciliatory arbiters on the Israeli-Syrian clash, Iran's atomic system,
Palestine and the common clash in Sudan.
Strategy is both a workmanship and a science that requests tremendous political and budgetary
speculation if a nation is resolved to ace it.
Also, our outside strategy is basically OFW-driven. Mostly because of our confused and
immature remote approach in the twentieth century, we occupied with numerous tricky snares,
understandings and concessions, which demonstrated to place us at a losing position regarding
our exchange and political-security ties with the outside countries. This has prompted monetary
stagnation and a cycle of neediness and unemployment that encouraged the mass migration of
large portions of our highly required talented work to nations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia
and North America.

Our exchange financial discretionary missions have additionally experienced an absence of

prescience, top to bottom assessment of arrangement duties and essential emphaticness to defend
our diversions. This clarifies why we tirelessly consented to worldwide and local game plans and
understandings, which made ready for our overwhelming imports from different nations and
resulting inversion of our industrialization, gigantic uprooting of our household makers and a
cycle of unemployment that scarcely helped our endeavors at destitution reduction and national
improvement.
A considerably all the more calming record of our monetary strategy is the way we have
succumbed to International Financial Institutions, the World Bank and IMF, and acknowledged
squashing toward oneself structural conformity programs and in addition strong obligation
installment plans that siphoned a lion offer of our national plan off for a considerable length of
time to come. This was legitimately revered as programmed obligation allocations. Our
"mediators" organized and keep on doing as such - the "great indebted person model" as a
consecrated esteem that outweighed our significant need to contribute however much cash as
could be expected on our weather beaten base and overstretched under-financed open
administrations areas, for example, health awareness and training. These political vital bungles
making our financial approach to a great degree resolute - were hindering to our trusts for
national advancement and significantly deceived our national investment.
Diplomatic clout and economical clout are two interlaced issues. Regardless of the way that the
Philippines' financial potential to be among significant rising economies - has been reliably
stressed in reports by budgetary associations, for example, Goldman Sachs and International
Business bunch, we can not deny how our nation's monetary clout is progressively eclipsed by
other quick creating economies, for example, Brazil, Turkey and Malaysia that have used more

modern monetary security remote strategy principles. As we fall behind in the race for financial
strength, our conciliatory clout is by and large significantly lessened. An inversion of such
pattern would require unprecedented 'political goodness', efficient and precise re-association of
our discretionary administration and a capable methodology towards existing and future.
In a country known for its "internationalized" society, educated population, persuasiveness and a
praiseworthy handle of outside dialects, there is no deficiency of ability for 21st century political
administration. Anyway the simple ownership of gifts is not a certification for aggregate
achievement of a country. Efficient proficiency and the way of hierarchical courses of action
focus the degree of a countries' prosperity. On the off chance that enlistment, advancement and
assignments are focused around political convenience rather than profound strategy assessment,
one ought not be amazed to see a discretionary administration that fails to offer the ability and
inspiration to secure our national enthusiasm at any expense. Our Department of Foreign Affairs
is not in detachment from whatever is left of the administration and what it speaks to.
Government divisions have a tendency to reflect the characteristic inefficiencies that portray our
general bloated administration; massive absence of interest in our strategic administration is not
by any stretch of the imagination an empowering sign. With 90 million souls to secure and a
large number of natives working abroad, one anticipates that the discretionary administration will
constitute a first class unit of expert, patriot and universally capable people.
Remote approach gets to be significantly more basic on the changeless issue of national security.
Given our tremendous powerlessness to both conventional security dangers probability of
showdown, attack and war with neighboring nations on regional question and non-customary
security concerns atmosphere emergency, pandemic ailments, sea theft and so on we ought to
spotlight on our remote arrangement like never before. Our military capacities are certainly

constrained, even by provincial guidelines, and that implies our discretionary endeavors,
meanwhile, are vital to adjusting for such urgent capacity hole.
Scholastics and specialists are profitable resources, who ought to likewise be key to our
endeavors in repairing our outside strategy structure. Not just propelled nations, for example, the
US have utilized the support of driving scholastics in molding their remote approach,
additionally nations, for example, Turkey have progressively shut the "lamentable" hole between
the educated community and the genuine conciliatory administration.
In under 10 years, Turkey was changed from a bankrupt country into a part of the first class G20, key accomplice inside the NATO, part of the UNSC and a real player in the Middle East.
Numerous ascribe such accomplishment to the main Turkish Political Scientist and current
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutuglo. Huge lessons can indeed be drawn from many other
developing countries, which have finally realized the value of an advanced professionalized
modern foreign policy structure.
Conclusions: propositions for a new Filipino foreign policy based on Walden Bellos Article
1. We should get out of the shadow of the United States
2. We should understand that the US is in decline and we exist in an increasingly multi-polar
world.
3. We ourselves must define our stance on key issues such as:
A.) Rise of China and its implications to our region
B.) The emerging global financial order
C.) The failure of globalization and trade liberalization
3. We must reflect these new priorities in the structure of foreign service bureaucracy and go
beyond merely serving as an extension of the foreign relations arm of DOLE.
4. Fully professionalize the Foreign Service and stop making appointments based on political
considerations.

5. Strengthen the overall analytical and policy-making capacities of the diplomatic service, from
Think Tanks to geographic and area-specific research centers.
Mr. Aquino must recollect that the United States has relinquished partners in the recent past. The
Americans turned on the First Philippine Republic in 1898, Poland and whatever remains of
Eastern Europe was left to the Soviets after the Second World War, Western purposeful publicity
supported the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 however no significant backing was given by the
United States to the renegades, the United States outfitted and prepared Cuban banishes yet
surrendered them after the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1961, and in particular, the US relinquished
South Vietnam in the 1970s. Obviously, the US has additionally remained by its partners, quite
the Allied Powers in the Second World War, West Germany amid the Cold War, and Israel in the
Yom Kippur War. This specification just demonstrates that the United States respects
partnerships that suit its eagerness toward oneself, as any country ought to do.

The Americans are not companions, however partners. Cooperations are connections in the
middle of equivalents, and investments of Filipinos and Americans should be equivalent. The
Philippines has no decision yet to treat with the Americans provided for its debilitated position
vis-a-by means of China, yet it doesn't imply that Filipinos ought to nail their shades to the
American pole. The Philippines must make itself in a position where it can appreciate American
help without being bargained if this help ought to end. As of now, the Philippines is not getting
any critical backing and does appear as though it will turn out well in the event that it loses even
a tad bit of that backing.
The Americans needed to have a say in Asia, let them pay the cost. Philippine engages must be
most importantly, and let the Americans suit that. Israel keeps on pursuing its own advantage in

the Middle East without needing to kowtow to the US State Department excessively, the same
strives for Pakistan, and both nations keep on getting billions of dollars in military support from
the US. They get legitimate weapons, not 40 year-old boats. Those are the profits of freedom.