Drilon allays fears EDCA would bring back US military bases in PHL

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 13): Drilon allays fears EDCA would bring back US military bases in PHL

Senate President Franklin Drilon on Wednesday downplayed speculations that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is a step towards the revival of the United States (US) military bases in the country.

Drilon made the clarification a day after the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the constitutionality of EDCA between the Philippines and the US with the High Court saying it is not a treaty but an executive agreement.

The SC ruling has also contradicted the Senate’s position through Senate Resolution No. 105 that the EDCA needs ratification of the upper chamber of Congress before it will be implemented in the country.

”It (US military bases) will not happen under EDCA because if they will build military base, there should be new treaty that needs ratification of the Senate,” Drilon said in a media interview.

”It is clear that no foreign military base in the Philippines under EDCA,” he added.

Drilon said the EDCA is just an implementation component of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the US and the Philippines.

”This is just an implementation of our obligation and the obligation of America in the VFA,” he said.

Drilon said EDCA is also a document that will define the security agreement between the US and the Philippines particularly under the present territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

The Senate president is one of the three senators who cast abstention vote when the Senate adopted a resolution saying EDCA is a treaty that requires is concurrence.

Other senators who abstained from voting to adopt the Senate resolution include Senate minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate Paolo Benigno Aquino IV. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV voted no.

For his part, Enrile lauded the SC decision to uphold the legality of EDCA, saying it is a “historic decision.”

”Since we cannot act on our own, we have to ally ourselves with stronger power and that is America. We must stay with American under our present condition to survive,” he said.

Enrile, a 91-year-old lawmaker who served as defense minister under former President Ferdinand Marcos, said EDCA “is a matter of necessity for us.”

”And wisely the Supreme Court made a courageous decision, inspite of public reaction to sustain the EDCA and protect the Filipino people from possible enslavement for centuries by a giant power in Asia,” he said.

 http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=846180