MEETING AT MALACAÑAN. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. welcomes United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at Malacañan Palace in Manila on Tuesday (March 19, 2024). During the meeting, Marcos and Blinken discussed the Philippines and US’ alliance and reaffirmed the two nations’ commitment to enhance their economic and defense cooperation. (Photo courtesy of the Presidential Photojournalists Association)
MANILA – Since taking the helm, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., the chief architect of the country’s foreign policy and the main spokesperson for international affairs engagements, has dramatically transformed and reinvigorated relations between the Philippines and the United States (US).
Now midway through his term, the President has consistently shown his appreciation and grasp of the country’s strengths and vulnerabilities, as natural disasters and regional political storms swirl around the archipelago.
This should not come as a surprise. In his second State of the Nation Address delivered on July 24, 2023, President Marcos declared: “Our independent foreign policy – a friend to all and enemy of none – has proven effective. We formed strategic alliances with our traditional and newfound partners in the international community.” With these words, President Marcos molded the interpretation of his administration’s independent foreign policy mantra and pursuit.
On April 28, 2024, under the Marcos administration, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the US reached a milestone. It celebrated its 10th year.
EDCA is a significant cornerstone in contemporary Philippine-US relations. Its signing in 2014 ushered in the rotational deployment and presence of US military troops and assets such as aircraft and ships at mutually agreed locations within the country. Again, under the Marcos administration, it took 22 years for the US forces and assets to return to the Philippines, albeit on a limited scale and temporary basis, after their departure in 1992.
EDCA further enhances the country’s capabilities by allowing an increased rotational presence of US troops in the Philippines, thereby bolstering cooperation and interoperability to address shared security concerns. Additionally, EDCA provisions enable the construction and upgrade of facilities and the storage and prepositioning of defense and HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) equipment, supplies, and materials. These measures ensure that both forces are even more prepared to provide swift and effective support during emergencies.
For example, on Oct. 10, 2024, a contingent of US Marines completed six days of foreign disaster relief operations in Batan Island in Batanes. This was done in cooperation with the US Agency for International Development.
At the request of the Philippine government, marines and sailors from the Marine Rotational – Southeast Asia; 1st Marine Aircraft Wing; III Marine Expeditionary Force; and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, on board the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4), brought an estimated 43,500 kilos of relief supplies to the heavily battered Batan Island, which was struck by Typhoon Julian.
Through the efforts of the Department of National Defense (DND) and their US counterparts, the full implementation of EDCA was realized.
With the Supreme Court upholding EDCA’s legality in July 2016, the joint military training and exercises between Filipino and US troops on a rotational basis and agreed locations started. EDCA has an initial life span of 10 years, but “it shall continue in force automatically unless terminated by either Party by giving one year’s written notice through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate the agreement,” according to the articles of the agreement.
As a cornerstone of the military alliance between the PH and the US, EDCA advances the implementation of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) signed by both countries on Aug. 31, 1951.
Expanding EDCA sites
On Nov.15, 2022, the DND released a statement highlighting its commitment to accelerate EDCA by allowing the US to complete infrastructure enhancement, repair projects, and develop new facilities within two years in the then-existing five EDCA sites namely, Cesar Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; and Benito Air Base in Cebu.
In November 2023, the Philippines and the US marked the completion of the biggest EDCA project –-a refurbished 2,800-meter-runway at the Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga. The project costs US$25 million and is intended to “ensure safer conditions” for training exercises, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief operations. Basa Air Base has the biggest fund allocation among all EDCA sites. The US has earmarked US$66 million of the original US$82 million EDCA funding for projects in the site, which also include a warehouse, command and control infrastructure, fuel storage, and aircraft parking.
On Feb. 2, 2023, Manila and Washington announced the designation of four new EDCA locations with the goal to bolster the full implementation of the agreement. The addition of the new EDCA locations was aimed at allowing more rapid support for humanitarian missions relative to climate-related disasters and for responding to other shared challenges.
The additional EDCA sites are Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac in Palawan.
As part of his governance initiatives, President Marcos himself addressed and undertook the planning and negotiations for the additional EDCA sites, together with the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines officials. In one interview, the President said: “We give [the US] the chance to be able to come and help us in any way, especially with disaster relief.” He added: “The Philippines is not allowing our bases to be used for any sort of offensive action. This is just to help the nation, when the nation needs it.”
In October 2023, AFP Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner announced the addition of 63 more projects within the nine EDCA sites (including the 14 projects previously disclosed in the four added locations). These will include construction of warehouses, roads, and drainage systems.
Not permanent US bases
Then-US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III (under President Joseph Biden’s administration) reiterated that EDCA still rules out “permanent basing” in the Philippines. “In terms of EDCA locations, I just want to be clear that we are not seeking permanent basing in the Philippines. As you heard us say in our statements, EDCA is a collaborative agreement that enables rotational activities,” he said during a media briefing at the DND after a meeting with then-DND Officer-in-Charge Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. on Feb. 3, 2023. “It also provides us the ability to respond effectively to humanitarian issues and also disaster relief and other types of crises, not just for the Philippines but also for the regions we are in,” Austin said.
For his part, OIC Galvez said, “I must stress that EDCA and its implementation, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program, or the PH-US alliance are directed to modernize our capabilities and collaboration to react to emergencies and protect our maritime and environmental interests. Thus, these additional EDCA sites should not be a cause for concern for anyone since it could also spur economic investments, joint protection, and preservation of our maritime and natural resources.”
During a visit to the Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City on Nov.30, 2024, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. reiterated the need to speed up the upgrading activities in EDCA sites to further strengthen operational readiness and national security.
Economic, humanitarian advantages
In the same visit to the Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, Teodoro reiterated the need to speed up the upgrading activities in EDCA sites to further strengthen operational readiness and national security. The US is funding the construction and development of EDCA sites and therefore, creates jobs and boosts the local economies of the communities where the sites are located.
As of April 2023, the US has allocated over US$100 million to EDCA projects in the five original sites, and added US$18 million during the third 2+2 ministerial dialogue in Washington in the same month.
Despite the US assurance to develop EDCA sites, Teodoro emphasized that these facilities would remain part of Philippine sovereign territories. “I’d like to clarify the process. These are Philippine bases that we need to develop on our own with a few portions of these sites that are reserved for the United States for logistical purposes. There are an additional four with an initial five. Out of the five, we want to do those as quickly as possible because we also need to develop these bases for our own use. And some of these bases have some legal issues that I will have to deal with. And once those are settled, then we can go full blast on a side-by-side basis, particularly now when we need the assistance of the United States in resilience and in humanitarian assistance and disaster response. It takes time for them to mobilize assets to help us with rescue and relief. So having facilities where they can preposition not only goods but capabilities on a rotational basis would help a lot,” Teodoro elaborated in an interview in Canberra, Australia in November 2024.
According to US Indo-Pacific Command Chief Admiral John Aquilino during his Sept. 13, 2023 visit to an EDCA project in Basa Air Base in Pampanga, the EDCA sites have proven to be very useful for HADR missions. He cited the usefulness of the Lal-lo Airfield EDCA site for relief activities during and after the devastation of Typhoon Egay in August 2023.
The consecutive strong typhoons that devastated the country in November 2024 also facilitated the opportunity to prove the value of EDCA sites across the country. These military locations were used in airlifting relief goods, personnel, and equipment, especially in far-flung areas where roads were impassable.
President Marcos cited the role of EDCA sites in helping carry out the disaster response capabilities of the government in distributing relief goods and rolling out rescue operations. “It has become really useful in the face of these uncertain times,” he said during a courtesy call by Secretary Austin at Malacañan Palace on Nov. 18, 2024.
“I would like to point out and remind everyone how important the EDCA sites have become in all our HADR efforts in the past few weeks. We have been hit with what we now refer to as the KLMNOP series of typhoons – six typhoons in less than four weeks,” President Marcos said.
The President added that Filipino relief and rescue workers were able to respond more effectively than they would have otherwise, thanks to the EDCA sites. “Many of our HADR missions were conducted from these sites to the great benefit of those who had been isolated.
The EDCA sites have served as staging areas, especially since, in the immediate aftermath of the storms, many affected areas could only be reached by helicopter. Numerous roads were closed by landslides, leaving even the main capitals of provinces reachable only by aircraft. “We have used to a great extent the EDCA sites,” the President said, reminding everyone of the wisdom behind that and how it has become so extremely useful in the face of these effects of climate change.
Secretary Austin has reiterated his President’s assurance of the US commitment to defending the Philippines. He emphasized that an armed attack on Philippine forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, including the South China Sea, would invoke US defense commitments under the MDT.
Bolstering PH territorial defense initiatives
EDCA projects and the additional sites with the US are integral to strengthening the Philippines’ defense posture and ensuring readiness to address evolving security concerns. While these initiatives are not intended for aggression or offensive actions, it is an inherent function of the armed forces to prepare for all eventualities. “Let us deter an armed attack. That is the more important thing, that is what I am focused on doing. Everybody is too focused on armed attack. Let’s make ourselves strong enough so that that does not happen,” said Teodoro in an August 2024 interview with reporters.
In a Presidential Communications Office release on April 12, 2023, President Marcos maintained that the four additional EDCA sites with the US would not be used for offensive actions. “The Philippines will not allow our bases to be used for any offensive action. This is solely to assist the Philippines when the country is in need of help,” the Chief Executive stressed when asked whether the additional sites could “add tensions” in the region. “What we are doing is simply strengthening the defense of our territory, the defense of the Republic,” the President said.
“All of these already exist. We already have camps there from before. The only difference now with what we’re doing under EDCA is that we are giving our only treaty partner, the US, the opportunity to come and help us in any way – especially since it originally started with assistance for disaster relief and similar activities,” the President said.
