EDCA requires PH consent prior to prepositioning of U.S. troops, says DND official

From the Philippine Information Agency (May 9): EDCA requires PH consent prior to prepositioning of U.S. troops, says DND official

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) recently signed by the Philippines and the United States stipulates that the consent of the Philippines must be given first before US troops are prepositioned for military activities, an official said on Thursday.

The EDCA “institutionalizes two joint activities, namely the prepositioning of US equipment within AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) locations, and the construction of related facilities to accommodate such prepositioning and other enhanced defense cooperation activities,” National Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino said in a press conference in Malacanang.

“We would want to emphasize though that under EDCA, it is very clear that, for any prepositioning and construction activity to happen, the consent of the Philippine government is necessary,” Batino said.

“In fact, the EDCA specifically makes reference to the Mutual Defense Board and the Security Engagement Board, which is the existing bilateral security mechanism between the AFP and the US Pacific Command,” he added.

He pointed out that the EDCA “expressly provides that the agreed locations within which these construction and prepositioning activities would take place, would be determined and provided through the AFP.”

Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Eduardo Malaya, who is a member of the Philippine negotiating panel for the EDCA, joined Batino at the press conference said the agreement “is mutually beneficial and that there’s ample legal and constitutional support for the provisions that are now reflected in this defense cooperation agreement which we have with the United States.”

http://news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=1751399550613