EDCA contents made public

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 29): EDCA contents made public

The Philippine government has made public the contents of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) Tuesday evening, a day after it was officially signed.

The agreement was signed by Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines, Philip Goldberg Monday morning.

The EDCA facilitates the enhanced rotational presence of US forces in the country, expands opportunities for training and supports the long-term modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

Some salient points of the EDCA include:

-Article IV, Section 4 of the agreement specifically states that, "US forces and US contractors shall have unimpeded access to agreed locations for all matters relating to the prepositioning and storage of defense equipment, supplies, and materiel, including delivery, management, inspection, use, maintenance, and removal of such equipment, supplies, materiel." In Section 6, it says that the propositioned materiel "shall not include nuclear weapons."

-Article V, Section 1, states the "Philippines shall retain ownership of and title to agreed locations," Article VI, Section 3 dictates that " US forces are authorized to exercise all rights and authorities within agreed locations that are necessary for their operational control or defense, including taking appropriate measures to protect U.S. forces and US contractors" and that the "the US should coordinate such measures with appropriate authorities of the Philippines."

-Article VII of the EDCA, clearly stated that the US is banned from jamming local airwaves.

"The Parties recognize that it may be necessary for the United States forces to use the radio spectrum. The Philippines authorizes the US to operate its own telecommunications system (as telecommunication is defined in the 1992 Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union or ITU). ... Consistent with the 1992 Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union or ITU, the U.S. forces shall not interfere with frequencies in use by local operators. . ."

While Article XI states that, "the Parties agreed to resolve any dispute arising under this Agreement exclusively through consultation between the Parties. Disputes and other matters subject to consultation under this agreement shall not be referred to any international court, tribunal, or other similar body, or to any third party for settlement, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties."

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=639104