‘Not yet time to invoke US treaty’

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he was not yet inclined to invoke the country’s Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) with the United States over incidents in the West Philippine Sea because it would only escalate rather than cool down tensions.

Speaking to reporters here after joining the annual alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) at Fort del Pilar, the president said activating the MDT at this time would only be “counterproductive”.