ManilaTimes-Apr 15
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday the government is not inclined to give the United States access to more Philippine military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). “The answer to that is no. The Philippines has no plan to open or to establish more EDCA bases,” Marcos said in response to a question posed during a Q&A session with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. EDCA, signed in 2014, authorizes the United States military to use designated installations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to build facilities and position their equipment, aircraft, and vessels. The initial five EDCA sites include the Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City. In February last year, Marcos granted the US access to four more sites — Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan — which allows American troops rotate through and store defense equipment and supplies. The President, however, insisted that the additional installations would not be used for any offensive action “unless there is an attack against the Philippines” and that they would be used mainly to boost the disaster response of the country as they would also be used for humanitarian and relief operations during emergencies and natural disasters. Read more at: https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/04/16/news/marcos-rules-out-new-bases-for-us/1941630
