PH, US agree to boost American military presence, create 4 new EDCA sites

Metro Manila, February 3 ------ The Philippines and the United States announced an agreement to expand American military presence, giving troops access to four new sites in the country amid China's aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.

In a joint statement issued during the visit of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, both sides announced plans to accelerate the full implementation of the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), including designating four new locations in strategic areas of the country and the substantial completion of projects in the existing five locations.

Under EDCA, US forces have access to designated Philippine military camps, where they could be indefinitely stationed on a rotational basis. The US in October sought access for a larger number of its troops and weapons. “The EDCA is a key pillar of the US-Philippines alliance, which supports combined training, exercises, and interoperability between our forces,” said the statement released by the US and Philippine defense departments. “Expansion of the EDCA will make our alliance stronger and more resilient, and will accelerate modernization of our combined military capabilities. The addition of these new EDCA locations will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges,” it said. The statement did not identify the new sites, but Philippine defense officials previously said Zambales, Cagayan, Isabela, and Palawan - all of which face China, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula - had been proposed.

In a joint press conference with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez said the new EDCA sites will be revealed after consultation with their local governments. "We have agreed that the statement of the sites will be concluded once we have already made collaboration with the local governments and communities," Galvez said. "The President wanted that all of our actions have been consulted with the local governments." The Department of National Defense will also inspect the new EDCA sites as they were determined to be "vulnerable to climate change," Galvez added.

The full implementation of the 2014 agreement also means greater investment in the five existing EDCA sites. “The United States has allocated over $82 million toward infrastructure investments at the existing five sites under the EDCA, and is proud that these investments are supporting economic growth and job creation in local Philippine communities,” the statement said. The five existing sites are the Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro, Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, and the Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan.

EDCA was signed to aid in disaster response. It was also said to protect against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. "EDCA is not about permanent basing in the Philippines," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III said. "It is about providing access that allows us to increase training opportunities with our allies here and having the ability to respond in a more effective fashion as we are collectively faced with humanitarian assistance issues or disaster-response issues."

Source: cnnphilippines.com