Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6) — Senator Imee Marcos wants the Philippine government to ask the United States to make China leave Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, but her suggestion was thumbed down during a legislative hearing.

"Nakasulat na na talagang tutulong sila (US) pag inatake ang isang vessel ng ating military... E ano kaya, pwede rin po ba natin hingin sa Amerika na palayasin na ang Tsina sa Scarborough Shoal?" Marcos said Thursday during a Senate hearing on the Visiting Forces Agreement and the impact of its possible termination on other agreements, including the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

[Translation: It's already written that the US will really help if a vessel of our military is attacked... What if we ask America to shoo China away from Scarborough Shoal?]

"Subukan lang natin, hingin lang natin sa Amerika (Let's just try and ask it from the US)," Marcos added.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Tedoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. earlier said that the Philippines has secured a written commitment from US that "an armed attack on the Armed Forces' public forces or aircraft of the Philippines in the Pacific, including the South China Sea, would trigger the Mutual Defense Treaty obligations of the US." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a similar statement after a bilateral meeting with Locsin in May 2019.

Locsin, however, said he would never follow Marcos' suggestion.

"I would not do it simply because this is a Mutual Defense Treaty and not invitation to a war," he said.

The senior diplomat added that the Philippines lost its chance when China gained control of Scarborough Shoal after a standoff in 2012. China had since blocked Filipino fishermen from Scarborough, also known as Panatag Shoal, west of Zambales. This prompted Manila to file a case for international arbitration, which it largely won, but China rejects.

"We should have asked for it, we should have put up a fight, we should have ignored (former US President Barack) Obama, we should have let our ship sink," Locsin said, adding that this should have triggered the MDT then.

Clarita Carlos, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines, also disagreed with Marcos.

"With all due respect, I don’t think it’s politic to ask the Americans to do something which we ourselves could not do," Carlos said.

The Senate is discussing the VFA after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to scrap it – a response to the US' cancellation of Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa's tourist visa.

EXPLAINER: The Visiting Forces Agreement

Locsin said if the VFA would be scrapped, the 1951 MDT – which states that each country would come to the defense of the other in case of an attack by a foreign country – would be as useless as "deflated balloon." He added that there's no assurance that the defense cooperation would push through under EDCA, which allows the US military to use and control five bases in the Philippines.

Locsin said a "vigorous review" of the VFA is called for, but clarified this is not the official stance of the Department of Foreign Affairs which is just awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte's order to send the US a notice to terminate the VFA. Locsin said he will "insist on" negotiating controversial provisions of the VFA during the review, including the lax visa and passport policies for American troops and the authority granted to the US government to retain jurisdiction over military personnel if ever they commit crimes in the Philippines.