Philippine Foreign Policy and

External Security
Herman Joseph S. Kraft

4 February 2009
Three Pillars
• (1) the preservation and enhancement of
national security
•
• (2) the promotion and attainment of economic
security through the mobilization of external
resources for economic advancement and social
development
•
• (3) the protection of rights, and promotion of the
welfare and interests of Filipinos overseas
National Security Defined
• a condition “wherein the people’s way of life and
institutions, their territorial integrity and
sovereignty, as well as their welfare and well-
being are protected and enhanced.”
Elements of National Security
▫ Moral/spiritual consensus
▫ Cultural cohesiveness
▫ Economic solidarity/organizity
▫ Socio-political stability
▫ Ecological integrity
▫ Territorial integrity
▫ External peace
Shifting nature and context of
national security
• Object being the people
•
• Broader context
•
• Involves not just the Department of Defense, the
Department of Foreign Affairs, the AFP, and the
police
New security issues
• economic security
• food security
• energy security
• climate change
• toxic waste dumping
• the depletion of marine resources
• illegal drugs
• human trafficking
Bilateral Security Arrangements
Philippine-US security relations
• MDT (1951)

• VFA (1999)
ASEAN
• Declaration on the Conduct of Parties to the
South China Sea

• ASEAN Regional Forum

 Meetings on various security issues
 Disaster Relief
 Security implications of Climate Change
 Counter-terrorism and Transnational Crime
 Joint Exercise on Disaster Relief in August 2009
ASEAN+3
• Chariman’s Statement at the 10th AP3 FMM (22
July 2009)
• Reference to North Korean nuclear weapons
tests and missile launches
• Condemnation of acts of terrorism in Jakarta on
17 July 2009
• ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers meeting on
Influenza A (H1N1) on 8 May 2009
ASEAN+3
• Adoption of a statement on ASEAN Plus 3
Coopeation on Food Security and Bio-Energy
Development (AP3 Summit in October 2009)
• East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve (EAERR)
Pilot Project (involved Ministers of Agriculture)
• Energy Cooperation – including energy security
(PROC hosted an AP3 Forum on Nuclear Energy
Safety (29 June-1 July 2009)
Fora undertaken under AP3
auspices
• East Asian Roundtable on Food Security
Cooperation Strategy in April 2009
• AP3 Forum on Non-Traditional Security Issues
by Armed Forces in June 2009
ASEAN Political and Security
Comunity
• Normative foundations for ASEAN
▫ Democracy
▫ Human Rights
•