Defense chief: U.S. missile deployment to PH ‘legal’

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Philippines’ deployment of mid-range missiles from the United States for joint exercises is “legal,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Tuesday, Dec. 24.

Teodoro’s remark came after China, which lays claim to the West Philippine Sea, said Manila’s plan is a provocative move.

The Philippines is a sovereign state, Teodoro said, adding that the country’s move is “legitimate” and “beyond reproach.”

“Any deployment and procurement of assets related to the Philippines’ security and defense fall within its own sovereign prerogative and are not subject to any foreign veto,” he said in a statement.

According to the defense chief, the government’s strengthening of defense capabilities under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept is in accordance to the independent foreign policy and national interest.

Teodoro said China is persistently “building up their nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile capability, sponsoring criminal syndicates and subversive organizations beyond their shores, and are unwilling to uphold human rights in their own country.”

In 2016, an arbitral tribunal ruled that Manila has sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea, invalidating Beijing’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea.