MANILA, Philippines (ENS) — The Senate started hearings Tuesday (May 13) examining the provisions of the recently signed Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States. The hearings were conducted by the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In the hearing conducted by the two senate committees, Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino, the chair of the EDCA Panel, said that the public should not fear EDCA because there would be no military base to be constructed in the country because of the said agreement. Any infrastructure project to be built will only be for the supplies and equipment to be used by the U.S. soldiers who will be participating in the joint training here in the country.
But for Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the EDCA seemed to have been rushed so it would be signed and presented as an accomplishment just before the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama. The senator also warned that the country is at a disadvantage in the said agreement because the deal does not clearly say anything on how the U.S. will help in the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. One provision, which Sen. Marcos pointed out as clearly disadvantageous to the Philippines is on the buildings and other infrastructure to be constructed for use of the U.S. military forces. He said that under EDCA, these structures would only be used for the exclusive use of the U.S. military. And what was worse is that in the event of the U.S. troops’ pullout from the country and upon turn-over of these establishments to the Philippine government, the Department of National Defense would even pay for these facilities.
“The pre-positioned material of the United States forces shall be for the exclusive use of the United States forces, and full title to all such equipment, supplies and materials remains with the United States. United States’ forces shall have control over the access to and disposition of such pre-positioned material and shall have the unencumbered right to remove any prepositioned materials at any time from the territory of the Philippines. In other words, ‘Sila ang may-ari. Sila lang ang gagamit‘,” Sen. Marcos said.
But Batino insisted that the Philippines would benefit greatly from the agreement, as this will strengthen defense capability and inter-operability, particularly maritime security, maritime domain awareness, and humanitarian assistance in disaster relief. He said EDCA was also consistent with the Philippine Constitution, since it protects the interests of Filipinos.
Batino also said that EDCA is an executive agreement that is part of the implementation of the Mutual Defense Treaty and in accordance to Visiting Forces Agreement. (Eagle News Service)
