[Billthedrill]

...that two-decades-old defence pact between the Philippines and the United States had been revamped to make it “acceptable” and “mutually beneficial” to both countries.

OK, I'll bite. What do we get out of the deal? Because if it's to advance Philippine interests in return for them allowing us to advance Philippine interests, that's not much of an incentive. Pax Americana is a relic of another day.

[Mariner]

“What do we get out of the deal?”

What we USED to get were two strategically dominant bases and control of the South China Sea.

It should again be that way or we should abrogate the treaty.