NextGen Day

The Department of National Defense (DND) made a clarification on Saturday about the terms of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the United States and Canada.

Arsenio Andolong, a spokesman for DND, stated that both nations must consent before using EDCA sites.

It’s not unlimited, he said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City. “There are constant consultations with the Mutual Defense Board and Security Exchange Board wherein the US side and the Philippine side are in discussion to plan out activities and these activities determine when the sites are going to be used, how they will be used, what can be brought in, and what they will do in the sites.

The initial period of the EDCA, which permits American troops to enter ostensibly “agreed-on locations” in the Philippines on a rotating basis, is 10 years, until either party terminates it.

The US is permitted to station troops there and to keep equipment, supplies, and other materials, but the Philippines still owns all agreed-upon places.

But not as permanent basing facilities, Andolong continued, EDCA locations might potentially be used for “exercises or in the event of contingencies like disaster and typhoons.”

Following the agreement’s signing, there were five initial EDCA locations: Cesar Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Airfield in Cagayan de Oro; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. claimed that the designation of four more would be made in the north, south, and “some around Palawan,” a province bordering the West Philippine Sea.

Beijing had previously questioned Washington DC’s motives for strengthening its military ties with Manila through EDCA, alleging that it was an attempt to “encircle and contain China.”

Andolong responded that the 2014 agreement is not intended to start a battle, but rather to strengthen the Philippines’ “territorial defense.”

“The EDCA, even the Visiting Forces Agreement, was conceptualized without) aiming at any particular country,” he added. “Ang EDCA, maski ang Visiting Forces Agreement, ay na-conceptualize na wala tayong tinutukoy at hindi.” “Poor us, we are not the aggressors. We don’t want to start acting violently, so ang atin po ay. The defense is what we seek.

The Association of Generals and Flag Officers, meanwhile, supported the new locations, stating that they will improve defense force interoperability between the US and the Philippines and speed up the modernization and capabilities upgrading of the Philippine Armed Forces.

According to the group, it would also enhance government responses to crises and disasters caused by climate change, such as relief efforts and humanitarian assistance.

It stated in a statement that “the Super Typhoon Yolanda experience in 2013 is a reminder that the proximity of relief centers that could accommodate supplies, tools, and labor speeds up the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”

Our defense forces must also continuously improve their abilities to detect, deter, and counter violators through consistent training and interoperability exercises with allies and partners who share our aspiration to uphold the rules-based international order, given the Constitution’s mandate to protect the national patrimony in maritime areas where we exercise sovereign rights.

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