Any part of the
DND Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, chairman of the Philippine panel which negotiated the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), said the pact "provides flexibility" to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in determining the locations to be shared with US troops.
"We expect that this will not be automatic. This will undergo a long series of talks before it is agreed that an installation will be established," Batino told the Senate committees on national defense and foreign relations.
He added that the Philippine panel wants "as few agreed locations as possible," and that these locations should promote maritime security.
For his part, Ambassador Eduardo Malaya, another member of the EDCA panel, said that agreed locations which will be made available for rotational presence of US troops will be "only those that will promote national interest."
"What we are envisioning in agreed locations is not permanent presence but temporary, rotational presence... There is no exclusivity in use for the US," Malaya told senators during the hearing.
No limitations
Before US President Barack Obama's arrival in Manila two weeks ago, Philippine and American officials signed the EDCA, which will allow an enlarged rotational presence of American troops in the country. The new defense pact is effective for 10 years.
Under the EDCA, the Philippines authorizes US forces to train, refuel aircraft and preposition their supplies within Philippine territory, in locations that have yet to be specified by both parties.
But Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. raised questions regarding the lack of parameters in EDCA on what can be turned into an agreed location for US troops.
"As it stands, there are no guidelines on what will be agreed locations... Lugi tayo sa usapan," Marcos told members of the EDCA negotiating panel.
He added that the provision in the pact that limits agreed locations to those that promote maritime security seems all-encompassing, since the Philippines is an archipelago.
Marcos further said that the Senate will "anxiously wait" while members of the Philippine panel negotiate with their American counterparts on the access of US troops to certain locations.
Batino earlier said that up to five Philippine military bases may be made available to US forces after they complete the negotiations on agreed locations under the EDCA.
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