I cannot forget that final day in 1977 when we in the DND Strategic Studies Group (SSG) headed by then Col Salvador Regalado PAF that was specially created by DND Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, presented our final proposed draft of the revised PH-US Military Bases Agreement (MBA) when, after the ensuing discussions, we were surprised by the position paper prepared…
Philippine President Duterte has recently forwarded notice to the United States (U.S.) his decision to terminate the current Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that has been in effect since 1999. This long-standing agreement is scheduled to renew or expire in August 2020. The concerns expressed by many -for or against this action- address many opinions of which I will try to…
During the past two weeks, events on the international scene particularly within the Asia-Pacific arena, provided an uncanny (but welcome) reprise of FVR’s younger days, which led this columnist to ask, “Does history really repeat itself?” In answer, allow us to share with our readers some personal landmarks along life’s journey. Indeed, history does in this particular episode, but hopefully,…
In the 112th Maritime Forum, I responded positively to the proposal of a former Undersecretary of National Defense, Atty. Fernando Campos to discuss Strategy. He suggested discussing “National Security Scenarios for the post-election period.” Campos was also a former Governor of Cavite and a former Congressman of Cavite. He sent me his discussion paper, THE BIRTH OF A NEW PHILIPPINES:…