Metropolis Desk-
Military representatives from the Philippines and the US indicated on Thursday that they would explore to broaden the scope of their cooperative defense pact. This might offer the US additional access to Philippine facilities at a time when tensions in the South China Sea are on the rise.
Beijing took exception to Manila’s decision to provide Washington access to four more bases in the Philippines’ critical regions earlier this year since it gave Washington access to a total of nine military locations in the nation under their 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The four new bases are positioned in key areas, three of which face north toward Taiwan and one of which is close to an island in the contentious South China Sea.
Adm. John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, claimed that he and Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., leader of the Philippine military, had discussed the prospect of increasing the number of bases that US soldiers might visit.
There is still work to be done there before we can provide that response, Aquilino told reporters following their discussion on Thursday. “Gen. Brawner and I may make recommendations to our senior leaders for the consideration of additional sites, but there’s still work to be done there before we get to that answer,” he said. “We are having discussions.”
Aquilino and Brawner, two of the four new EDCA locations, were being inspected by high-ranking military officials on Wednesday. Work there is now being done on a dock and an airfield.
Over 90 projects have already been approved in the new areas, where the US has invested more than $100 million to construct sites.
Because we think that working jointly would be more beneficial, we are just putting this up for shared usage with our equivalent, the United States, which is also our lone ally.
He added that the locations of the sites chosen under EDCA had “nothing to do with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region,” although some of the bases may be specifically built for cooperative training.
The promotion of Philippine interests is our first concern, according to Brawner. As a result, factors for disaster response and humanitarian assistance predominantly influenced the selection of the EDCA sites.
The site visit this week “signifies our commitment to further strengthen our cooperation, ensuring that both militaries are prepared and well equipped to respond to evolving security challenges and humanitarian crises,” he continued.
As stated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., allowing the US access to more military installations in his nation was not done to engage in “any offensive action.”
Following a string of similar incidents in the region in recent months, the western command of the Philippines expressed concerns on Thursday about a “resurgence” of Chinese fishing vessels “swarming” in waters near the Spratly Islands inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
In April, Manila was charged with escalating geopolitical tension in the Asia-Pacific by Huang Xilian, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines.
Source- Arab News
