The Philippines’ Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro visits the Lal-lo airport in the north of the country, which is being used as a base by both Filipino and US military aircraft carrying aid as part of a joint disaster response to Typhoon Doksuri.
Lal-lo is one of the sites open for use by US troops as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement — a deal that allows US forces to rotate through and store defence equipment and supplies at selected areas in the Philippines.
Teodoro defends the agreement, saying that the airport’s “proximity to Taiwan is a geographical accident” and if “other people are paranoid about it, it’s their problem.”
© Agence France-Presse
