PH generals, flag officers back 4 more Edca sites

From the Manila Times (Mar 26, 2023): PH generals, flag officers back 4 more Edca sites (By Franco Jose C. Baroña and Aric John Sy Cua)

A GROUP composed of generals and flag officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) expressed its support for four more sites in the country that will host the facilities and equipment of the United States under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

The Association of General and Flag Officers Inc. (AGFO) issued a statement on Saturday after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the government has identified the four additional Philippine bases.

The military said Cagayan, Zambales, Isabela and Palawan were among the possible EDCA sites. There are five predetermined EDCA sites located at Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City.

According to AGFO, EDCA is one of the mechanisms designed to bolster the alliance between the US and the Philippines under the 1951 RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty.

"This 2014 agreement allows the rotation, not permanent stay, of US troops in mutually agreed locations where our ally could use temporary facilities," the AGFO said.

It stressed that the initiative will not only "enhance the interoperability of the two allies defense forces and accelerate the modernization and capability upgrade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines but will significantly improve government responses, like humanitarian assistance and relief operations to various emergency situations and climate-related disasters." The AGFO said the Super Typhoon "Yolanda" experience in 2013 was a reminder that the proximity of relief centers that could accommodate goods, equipment and manpower hastens the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

"In addition, given the constitutional mandate to protect the national patrimony in maritime areas where we exercise sovereign rights, our defense forces must continually enhance their capability to detect, deter and counter violators through sustained training and interoperability exercises with allies and partners that share our aspiration to abide by the rules-based international order," AGFO said.

"We also fully recognize that the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration Ruling has upheld the noble aims of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, otherwise known as the Constitution of the Oceans, to address maritime disputes in a peaceful manner and to remind coastal states on the limits of their maritime jurisdiction," it added.

Meanwhile, Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong disclosed on Saturday that the government is planning to complete the construction of the five existing military bases under EDCA by 2024.

Andolong said the construction of these sites was interrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and after former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2020 pulled out of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The United States government said it allotted "$82 million toward infrastructure investments at the existing five sites under the EDCA." Under the EDCA, facilities are expected to be constructed to improve interoperability of US and Philippine troops, build capacity, strengthen the AFP for external defense, promote maritime security, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR).

It is also expected to give way to storage and prepositioning of defense and HADR equipment, supplies and material. Continuing opposition Meanwhile, Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said he continues to oppose the government's decision to make his province a site under EDCA.

Speaking in a recorded video interview with The Manila Times, Mamba said his position "has not changed." "I do not want any foreign forces in my province. I don't want EDCA sites in my province, that's very clear." Mamba said this was why he was "surprised" when it was reported that he "dropped" his opposition to the EDCA sites.

"I will continue opposing the same because I feel it is inimical with the interest of the Cagayanos and the province," he said.

However, Mamba said despite his opposition, he admitted that he was "helpless" because "it is the President's call since he has decided and will be announcing soon the two sites in Cagayan." "I cannot do anything about that," Mamba said.

Mamba also said that he did not consult his constituents because of the "slow" formal notification to him by the government.

While Mamba said his people are not afraid of the military drills from the EDCA sites, he said the province is afraid of certain consequences of having foreign forces in the country, citing World War 2 and the Japanese invasion as an example.

Mamba said he hopes he is wrong in his calculations.

"I hope and pray that I am wrong and they are right," he said. "Because if I am right and they are wrong, I don't know how we could ever recover from the damage. We see what war is." The governor also said the province is not threatened by anyone — "not the Chinese, not the Japanese, and not the Koreans." He said the only threat comes from the New People's Army.

"They have been a threat for 52 years, and our Armed Forces and our government could not solve that. How do we go to war?"

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/03/26/news/national/ph-generals-flag-officers-back-4-more-edca-sites/1884276