Maritime council pushes MDT review

THE National Maritime Council (NMC) said Wednesday that it was pushing for a review of the 73-year-old defense treaty with the United States as China's increasing belligerence had created "new security challenges" in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

"For me, the [PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty] MDT has been there since 1951, and since then, the strategic landscape has changed so much. So, maybe it's high time now to make the review," NMC spokesman Vice Adm. Alexander Lopez said in a chance interview in Malacañang.