Palace identifies 4 new EDCA sites

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang named yesterday four locations deemed “suitable and mutually beneficial” as additional sites where US troops would have access under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) identified the sites as the Camilo Osias Naval Base in Sta Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela and Balabac Island in Palawan.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has already inspected and assessed the sites, according to the PCO.

The Palace said the additional sites are seen to boost the country’s disaster response, as the locations would also be used for humanitarian and relief operations during emergencies and natural disasters.

Signed in 2014, EDCA allows US military personnel to train with local troops as well as build and operate facilities inside Philippine military bases. The agreement does not allow the US to establish permanent military bases in the Philippines.

EDCA, which complements the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries, also allows the US to preposition supplies and equipment in the country.

To date, the US has allocated over $82 million for projects in five existing EDCA locations – Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan and Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.

During an Army event last month, President Marcos said the four new EDCA sites would be scattered around the Philippines and are ideally situated for defense of the country’s eastern coast.

He said the Philippines’ continental shelf on Luzon’s eastern side was also taken into consideration in choosing the new sites.

Marcos said he has already talked to and explained the importance of the EDCA sites to local chief executives and other officials not keen on hosting US forces and equipment.

“And they seem to understand because most of the – those who had interposed some objections are really right now, they understood and they came around to support the idea of an EDCA site in their province,” he said.

Department of National Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong earlier made it clear the EDCA sites would not be US military bases.

He said these sites would be used as storage and warehouse facilities for military logistics.

The designation of four more sites for EDCA was made formal during the visit of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III to the country on Feb. 2.

Dev’t work ready

Defense Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Malacañang’s announcement would jumpstart the development of the new sites, especially the construction of the necessary facilities.

“I was instructed by the President (that) we have to announce it, yes, we are very happy and very thankful to the President,” Galvez said.

“Actually (that was being waited on by our) counterpart so that we can immediately make necessary recommendation because it will be budgeted by the Congress, their Congress,” he said, referring to US readiness to provide funding. “The earlier it will be announced, the faster it will (happen).”

He said the chosen sites are strategically located, especially the one in Balabac, which is within what he called SLOCS or sea line of communication.

He added the sites are located where “all around security will be protected” and possible disaster response easier done.

On earlier reports that Subic was one of the areas being considered, Galvez said the Philippines did not want Subic to be an EDCA site because it is a Philippine Navy base and an economic hub.

He said authorities also did not want to trigger speculations that the US would rebuild its former naval base.

Salaknib

In Laur in Nueva Ecija, meanwhile, Filipino and US soldiers demonstrated intense firepower as part of the ongoing Salaknib exercises between the Philippine Army and the US Army Pacific.

Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said combined troops conducted for the first time a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live fire exercise at the Canantong Fire Base in Laur last Friday.

Field artillery personnel from the US Army’s Multi-Domain Task Force and the Philippine Army’s Artillery Regiment worked hand in hand to maneuver, reload and fire the HIMARS batteries.

Trinidad said HIMARS is a missile launcher mounted on a five-ton truck, which can fire six guided missiles in rapid succession. “It can be used to hit targets from a distance with precision and power,” he said.

More than 3,000 Filipino and US soldiers are jointly training as part of the eighth iteration of Salaknib.

Meanwhile, militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) criticized what it described as gross inequality in the relationship between the US and the Philippines.

“We have granted the US free use of the entire country for its bases and troops,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said in a statement.

“These military arrangements have huge advantages for the US, but since our government has chosen a mendicant foreign policy, the government has cheapened our national sovereignty,” Reyes said.

In return, Reyes said the country only got excess defense articles and decommissioned ships.

Reyes underscored the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement that have so far allowed the US to station in the country permanently since 2002 rent-free.

The EDCA, meanwhile, allows the US free use of agreed locations for its facilities without paying rent, Reyes added.

“From 2002 up to the present, there have been US troops stationed in the Philippines, a permanent presence that cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, still be considered visiting,” he said. – Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas