The US and the Philippines revealed plans on Thursday to increase the US military presence in the Southeast Asian country as part of measures to prevent the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) increasing aggressiveness in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan.
According to a joint statement issued on both nations' websites, the US would be granted access to four more military bases in crucial areas of the Philippines under an arrangement going back to 2014 known as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The accord comes at a time when the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Manila for discussions as part of Washington's preparations to broaden its security options in the Philippines to discourage any CCP action against self-ruled Taiwan.
The location of the new EDCA locations was not specified in the announcement. However, according to former Philippine military chief Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro, the US requested access to five bases on the northern land mass of Luzon, the closest part of the Philippines to Taiwan, and on the island of Palawan, which faces the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in October.
"The EDCA is a critical cornerstone of the US-Philippines alliance, supporting combined training, exercises, and interoperability between our forces," according to the joint statement. "Expansion of the EDCA will make our alliance stronger and more robust, and will speed modernization of our combined military forces.
The four new locations join five current EDCA sites, for which the US has contributed more than $82 million in infrastructure improvements that will create new employment and assist local economies. Under the EDCA, US personnel might rotate indefinitely at these five Philippine military installations.
The EDCA allows the US military to get access to military sites in the Philippines, facilitating integrated training, exercises, and coordination between the two nations' forces.
Austin told his counterpart, Carlito Galvez, “We stand ready to help you in any way we can.”
On Thursday, before meeting with Galvez, he met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the presidential palace. Marcos informed Austin that the Philippines' connection with the US is critical.
Austin landed in the Philippines from South Korea on Tuesday. In response to North Korea's escalating nuclear threat, South Korea's military minister said the US will enhance the deployment of sophisticated weaponry such as fighter planes and bombers to the Korean Peninsula to bolster joint training with South Korean forces.
Previously, in November 2022, US Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Philippines for three days, including a stay in Palawan. There, Harris stated that the United States will support the Philippines in the face of intimidation and coercion in the South China Sea.
