The Philippines and United States are planning to build five facilities across Luzon to improve both countries’ joint trainings and disaster response capabilities under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
Department of National Defense (DND) Officer-in-Charge Jose Faustino Jr. said Monday, Nov. 14, that the EDCA sites will be an addition to the five previously approved sites that are now undergoing construction.
However, Faustino clarified that the EDCA sites will not be used as military bases by the US since it is not allowed under the Constitution. It will also not be used to store weapons of mass destruction like nuclear weapons, easing the fears of the public.
“We are not building bases. We are not allowed to,” Faustino said during the culmination of the 83rd founding anniversary of the DND in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. “What we have are EDCA sites. This is enhanced defense cooperation sites that we use for training facilities, warehouses.”
The establishment of the additional EDCA sites were discussed during the Mutual Defense Board – Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) meeting which was attended by Faustino and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III in Hawaii in September.
The additional sites will be built in critical areas near the West Philippine Sea (WPS) tentatively in 2023.
Two of the target sites will be built in Cagayan, and one each in Palawan, Zambales, and Isabela, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro.
“The technical working group talked about it and these five were identified. These will still be subject to approval of the DND and DFA . And they will also do similar procedures,” Bacarro stated.
Signed in 2014, the EDCA is a defense pact between Manila and Washington which allows for the extended stay and rotation of American troops in the Philippines, the building of facilities for both forces, and the prepositioning of equipment, aircraft, and vessel. However, the establishment of a permanent foreign military base in the Philippines is explicitly prohibited under Article XVIII Section 25 of the Philippine Constitution.
The so-called EDCA sites will be used mostly for humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations, training facilities, and operations center, Faustino said.
And while waiting for the approval of the new EDCA sites, Faustino said that the completion of the five previously approved EDCA sites is expected within the next two years. These are located in Palawan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro City.
“These facilities are Philippines-owned. If the Americans use it, they have to ask permission from us before they could do that,” the Defense OIC said.