President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday prodded the United States to prepare its fleet for a faceoff with China amid the Philippines’ territorial row with Beijing in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). “I’m calling now America. I’m invoking the RP-US pact. I would like America to gather all their Seventh Fleet in front of China. I’m asking them now. I will join them,” Duterte said during an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. It was the second time the President declared that he was invoking the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which the US and the Philippines signed in 1951.

Valente, C. S. (2019, July 18). Gather fleet vs China Duterte prods US. The Manila Times, p. A2.