Push Admin

Marcos urged to 'downgrade' EDCA, rethink plan to open 5 US bases in PH

Article (news)

Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Several analysts on Saturday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to rethink the Philippines’ and the United States’ plan to identify 5 additional sites for projects under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).Last month, a senior US Defense official told visiting Filipino journalists in an interview at the Pentagon that the defense leadership of both countries also agreed in a recent meeting in Hawaii to speed up funding for infrastructure in 5 existing EDCA sites.“These are done not because America wants to be nice to us but because it serves their national interest,” Ric Saludo of the Center for Strategy, Enterprise and Intelligence said during the virtual “Pandesal Forum.”“The US bases as magnets for attacks… We will have 10 potential targets in our country,” he said, noting that the Philippines already hosts US military bases in Cebu, Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.The Philippines “has to adjust to a multipolar world” and not just cater the United States, said Anna Malindog Uy, vice president for external affairs of the Philippine Asian Century Strategic StudiesThe government should have “Complete neutrality and positioning itself as non-aligned,” considering that China is now regarded as the “economic engine of the world,” she said.“ASEAN countries don’t want to make a choice between China and the US,” she said.“They want to focus more on economic progress,” she said.For University of the Philippines Visayas Professor Celso Cainglet, waiting for US citizens to clamor for reduced spending on US military aid would be a better strategy for the Philippines.“Ang mas magandang stratehiya ay mga amerikano mismo ang manghikayat sa mga congressman nila to stop military spending [on allied countries],” he said.“The Americans should realize that it is only the military-industrial complex that is gaining from this, not them,” he said.The EDCA - signed under the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III - allows US forces access to 5 Philippine bases to help counterbalance the growing Chinese presence in the South China Sea.It is seen as an expansion of the decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which guarantees that Manila and Washington will come to the aid of the other should one of them be under attack.In August, Marcos Jr. told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the MDT is in “constant evolution.”Marcos said a &quot;volatile&quot; international diplomatic scene — with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and China-Taiwan tensions — highlights &quot;the importance of the relationship between the United States and the Philippines.&quot;“I hope that we will continue to evolve that relationship in the face of all the changes that we have been seeing and the changes between bilateral relation between us and the United States,” the President said.<div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MIT6vnYu9U0?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Analysts urged Marcos to rethink the bilateral plan to identify 5 additional sites for projects under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Marcos urged to 'downgrade' EDCA, rethink plan to open 5 US bases in PH

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

News

Marcos urged to 'downgrade' EDCA, rethink plan to open 5 US bases in PH

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 12, 2022 01:53 PM PHT

Read More:

EDCA

military

diplomacy

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.