PHL to clarify US plan to send more air and naval assets to Asia-Pacific

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 15): PHL to clarify US plan to send more air and naval assets to Asia-Pacific

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Wednesday said he will seek clarification from United States officials on a plan by Washington to deploy more air and naval assets to the Asia-Pacific region.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week announced Washington’s “new phase” of strategic re-balance to Asia by investing in high-end equipment amid China’s massive reclamation activities disputed features in the South China Sea.

He said he intends to find out more details on this when he travels to Washington in two weeks to meet with US officials and lawmakers.

“We will find out more about what these plans involved," he said.

“We welcome this (but) we have not talked about to what extent this would happen,” he added.

Del Rosario said Manila and Washington have not been engaged in discussion over this as it is the first time that it has heard of such plan.

In 2014, Manila and Washington signed an agreement, called Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA, to allow greater US presence in the country. The signing came in the heels of America’s "Asian pivot" after years of heavy military engagement in the Middle East.

The accord is pending before the Supreme Court, which is determining its constitutionality.

As China boldly asserts claim over the resource-rich waters, Philippine government officials said an expanded U.S. military presence in the country can help its cash-strapped military defend the Philippines’ territory as it builds up its defense capability.

Manila has turned to the U.S., Australia, Japan and other western allies in an ongoing effort to modernize its military - among the weakest in the Asian region - and strengthen its capability to guard and defend its territory, including Philippine-claimed areas in the South China Sea that is being claimed nearly in its entirety by China.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=753273