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US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs at the Defense Articles Ceremony at the Department of Foreign Relations headquarters in Manila.
MANILA, Philippines – US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser raised the possibility that his boss would remain in office despite losing in the November election as he sought to assure the Philippines and other Asian countries that there would be no no change in American alliances.
US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, speaking at a press conference after visiting the Manila Memorial and American Cemetery in Taguig City, said the US’s alliances with its Asian partners would remain the same. regardless of who is in the White House.
But he said Trump can still stay for another term even though US election results show Biden had won.
“On January 20 we will have a continuity of government with a second term for Trump or a Biden-Harris administration,” said O’Brien, one of Trump’s most loyal officials.
The Duterte administration had already congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory in the November US elections.
“We are here to let the people of Asia know it and especially so that our close friends, like the Philippines, know that the United States is not leaving and we stand behind it,” O’Brien said.
“We are here and whatever happens with our internal politics and our politics in the United States, this is a fundamental alliance for us and we will be here to support the Philippines, regardless of what happens politically in the United States,” he said. .
The results of the American elections showed that Biden would be the next president of the United States, but Trump refused to budge, claiming that he won even though the figures show otherwise. Trump has also launched a widely discredited campaign to overturn the voting results by making unsubstantiated claims that he was misled.
Biden will be sworn in as the next president of the United States on January 20.
O’Brien, who tested positive for coronavirus last July, also visited Japan and Vietnam as part of his Asia tour.
Before his visit to the graves of American and Filipino soldiers who fought during World War II, O’Brien announced that the United States was delivering $ 18 million worth of precision guided missiles during his visit to the office of the Philippine Foreign Relations Department in Manila.
After a meeting with DFA security and foreign affairs officials, US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien visits the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig City to pay tribute to the American and Filipino soldiers who they died during World War II. pic.twitter.com/7QznDbRzYi
– Frances Mangosing (@FMangosingINQ) November 23, 2020
The donation, which would boost the Philippines’ counterterrorism campaign, would fulfill a promise made by Trump during a call with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte last April.
READ: US Donate $ 18 Million Weapon System to PH to Fight Terrorism
O’Brien also announced $ 3.5 million in humanitarian aid for the survivors of a series of typhoons in the Philippines.
He met with the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Teodoro Locsin Jr., the Secretary of Finance, Carlos Domínguez III, and the Executive Secretary, Salvador Medialdea, to discuss bilateral and regional concerns.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he was unable to meet O’Brien due to a scheduling conflict, while National Security Advisor Hermogenes Esperon Jr. was not seen during the weapons systems handover ceremony.
The suspension of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a security pact that was scrapped by Duterte earlier this year, was one of the topics of the meeting.
O’Brien said he hoped the extended life granted to the VFA, which governs the presence of US troops in the Philippines, would be longer.
“Obviously, we’d like to see him for a longer time and that’s something I talked about with Secretary Locsin,” O’Brien said.
“We think it would be better if it was a year or more. We’ll have to wait and see. That is ultimately a decision of the Philippine government, ”he said.
The VFA also allows US forces to train alongside Philippine troops on a large scale and to move aircraft and ships in and out of Philippine territory.
“We hope we can extend the Visiting Forces Agreement a little bit more, but we had a very, very good discussion,” O’Brien said. “And again, President Trump welcomes the six-month extension of the suspension,” he said.
Gregory Poling, director of the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said O’Brien may be trying to make “concrete progress on the VFA renegotiation.” “But it seems likely that the Duterte government would not prefer to wait for the new administration that Manila will have to work with,” Poling said, referring to the incoming Biden administration.
O’Brien, echoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, reaffirmed that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty applies to any armed attack against Philippine forces, airplanes or public vessels in the South China Sea.
Poling said O’Brien’s visit was likely “a final trip from the outgoing administration and a way to show that they still care about partners in the region.”
“Although Trump, Pence and Pompeo skip the virtual summits related to ASEAN it makes it a difficult message to sell. The fact is, there is little or nothing they can do now with less than two months to go, ”he said.
O’Brien represented Trump, Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence during the Asean meetings held online.
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