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A mock US flag burns as student activists from the League of Filipino Students (LFS) marched in protest towards the US Embassy in Manila on Filipino-American Friendship Day, July 4, 2019. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File

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EDCA

Willard Cheng

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171990635276920190704-us-embassy-protest-GC-9383.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A mock US flag burns as student activists from the League of Filipino Students (LFS) marched in protest towards the US Embassy in Manila on Filipino-American Friendship Day, July 4, 2019. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites are compromising the Philippines’ sovereignty and making it a target of attacks by the United States&#x27; geopolitical rivals, according to a <span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(200, 195, 188);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(24, 26, 27);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;--darkreader-inline-color:#c1bcb4;--darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#131516;display:inline !important">state university professor.</span></p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/09/14/23/ph-us-eye-more-military-facilities-under-edca">• PH, US eye more military facilities under EDCA</a></div><p><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;--darkreader-inline-color:#bfb9b1;--darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#181a1b;display:inline !important">UP professor Roland Simbulan,</span> author of the book &quot;The Bases of Our Insecurity,&quot; said that by allowing EDCA sites in the country, the Philippines has now become a virtual carrier or a forward base of the United States.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/13/biden-seeks-128-m-budget-for-edca-projects-in-ph-2349">• Biden seeks $128-M budget for EDCA projects in PH</a></div><p>This will get the Philippines entangled in conflicts among superpowers like US, China, and Russia, he said.</p><div><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;--darkreader-inline-color:#bfb9b1;--darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#181a1b;display:inline !important">“I am sure these countries, which are enemies of the US and which are not necessarily our enemies, are now training and typing the EDCA sites as part of their targets,&quot; he said.</span></div><div><span id="isPasted"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/1/ph-government-letting-itself-be-used-by-us-in-rivalry-with-china-duterte-1323">• PH government letting itself be &#x27;used&#x27; by US in rivalry with China — Duterte</a></span></div><p>Simbulan also cited reports saying Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly mulling the deployment of missiles after the US allegedly brought missiles to the Philippines. </p><p>&quot;Kaya nga itong US EDCA bases that have now been deployed in the Philippine using our own Armed Forces and PNP as their security guards, they are magnets of attack and only endanger our existence as a nation and people,&quot; he said.</p><p>Simbulan called for a foreign policy that is independent, rather than relying on external military forces.</p><p>The EDCA is an accord signed between the Philippines and the US in 2014 that deepens the defense cooperation of the Mutual Defense Treaty.</p><p>In 2016, the Philippines and the US agreed on five initial sites on which both sides will construct facilities and preposition equipment.</p><p>The selection of the EDCA sites is in accordance with the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Strategic Basing Plan. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QAkOZBr_VvI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>By allowing EDCA sites in the country, the Philippines has become a virtual carrier or a forward base of the United States, according to a state university professor.</p>

By allowing EDCA sites in the country, the Philippines has become a virtual carrier or a forward base of the United States, according to a state university professor.

EDCA sites make PH a 'target' of US foes: UP professor

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EDCA sites make PH a 'target' of US foes: UP professor

Willard Cheng,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 02, 2024 04:12 PM PHT

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EDCA

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