US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to meet Duterte on Thursday

President Rodrigo Duterte and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will discuss security and terrorism on their scheduled meeting in Manila on Thursday, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Pompeo will be in the Philippines on February 28 and March 1 for talks with Duterte and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. It will be Pompeo's first trip to the country since assuming office in April last year.

"Any subject matter that is mutually beneficial to both countries will be discussed or any matter for the Secretary to raise," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters.

Apart from security and terrorism Duterte and Pompeo may discuss the Mutual Defense Treaty in their meeting at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, according to Panelo.  

Early this month, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he wanted the 1951 treaty amended to make it more relevant to the dispute in the South China Sea, involving the Philippines, China and several other claimant-countries in the region.

There have been apprehensions that the US might balk at helping the Philippines if its forces were attacked in the West Philippine Sea, an area in the South China Sea being claimed by Manila, because the MDT only referred to “metropolitan” Philippines.

Lorenzana said the US side should be clear on the parameters of their commitment to come to the aid of the Philippines in the event of an attack from a third country.

“If they said that they are going to defend us or help us if metropolitan Philippines is attacked, what do they mean by metropolitan Philippines? Does it include Scarborough Shoal, Mischief Reef or Pag-asa,” Lorenzana said on February 4.

Lorenzana said the review would be good for the Philippines, citing last year’s near-collision between US and Chinese warships in the South China Sea.

Panelo said the South China Sea dispute may be discussed should Pompeo raise the matter.

Although the US is not a party to the disputes, it has declared in the past that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation, trade and peace and stability in the South China Sea. —NB, GMA News