Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement
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The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is an agreement between the
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and the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
intended to bolster the American–Philippine alliance. The agreement allows the United States to rotate troops into the Philippines for extended stays and allows the United States to build and operate facilities on Philippine bases for both American and Philippine forces. The U.S. is not allowed to establish any permanent military bases. The Philippines have personnel access to American ships and planes. This agreement has been the subject of criticism by some leftist groups in the Philippines. The EDCA is a supplemental agreement to the previous
Visiting Forces Agreement A visiting forces agreement (VFA) is an agreement between a country and a foreign nation having military forces visiting in that country. Visiting forces agreements are similar in intent to status of forces agreements (SOFAs). A VFA typically c ...
. The agreement was signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg in Manila on April 28, 2014, preceding a visit by US President
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with Philippine President Noynoy Aquino that same day. On January 12, 2016, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the agreement's constitutionality in a 10–4 vote. On July 26, 2016, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled with finality that the agreement is constitutional. Evan S. Medeiros, a former U.S. National Security Council's senior director for Asian affairs was quoted in ''
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'' as saying, "This is the most significant defense agreement that we have concluded with the Philippines in decades."Juliet Eilperin
"U.S., Philippines to sign 10-year defense agreement amid rising tensions"
''The Washington Post'', April 28, 2014


Background

For more than a century, the Philippines has been important to American defense strategy. Currently, the Philippines is a "
major non-NATO ally A major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the Federal government of the United States, United States government to countries that have strategic working relationships with the United States Armed Forces while not being members of t ...
" of the United States. The US acquired the Philippines from Spain after the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
of 1898 and then fought the
Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...
against Philippine revolutionaries to secure their rule. After both wars, the Philippines was a territory of the United States from 1898 to 1946. The United States granted the Philippines independence in 1946. The Mutual Defense Treaty was signed in 1951 and ratified in 1952 by the governments of the United States and the Philippines. The purpose of the Treaty was to "strengthen the fabric of peace" in the Pacific, by formally adopting an agreement to defend each other's territory in the case of external attack. In line with this treaty, the United States maintained several military bases in the Philippines, including Subic Bay Naval Base and the
Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base in Luzon, located west of Angeles City, and about northwest of Metro Manila. It was previously operated by the U.S. Air Force and, before that, the U.S. Army, from 1903 to 1991. The base cov ...
. In 1992, the bases closed after the
Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives as the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large (the country f ...
rejected, by a close vote, a treaty that would have extended the bases' lease. The treaty was rejected because of US reluctance to set a firm time frame for troop withdrawal and to guarantee that no nuclear weapons would pass through the base.David E. Sanger
"Philippines Orders U.S. to Leave Strategic Navy Base at Subic Bay"
''The New York Times'', December 28, 1991
The
Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement The Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement, sometimes the PH–US Visiting Forces Agreement, is a bilateral visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and the United States consisting of two separate documents. The firs ...
(VFA) was signed by the governments of the Philippines and the United States in 1998, and came into effect in 1999. This was the first military agreement since the closing of US bases in 1992. The VFA outlined a set of guidelines for the conduct and protection of American troops visiting the Philippines. The Agreement also stipulated the terms and conditions for American military to pass through or land in Philippine territory. The VFA is a reciprocal agreement in that not only does it outline the guidelines for US troops visiting the Philippines but also for Philippine troops visiting the United States. The signing of the VFA led to the establishment of annual bilateral military exercises between the US and the Philippine known as Balikatan, as well as a variety of other cooperative measures. The Balikatan training exercises ("shoulder-to-shoulder") are annual military exercises between the U.S. and the Philippines. They are structured to maintain and develop the security relationship between the two countries' armed forces through crisis-action planning, enhanced training to conduct
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operations, and promoting interoperability of the forces.Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo
"PH-US Balikatan Exercises to Start in May"
Armed Forces of the Philippine, April 21, 2014
Over the years the exercises have expanded to include other surrounding countries in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. These training exercises have also had a shifting focus. During the U.S.-led " War on Terror" the annual Balikatan Exercises focused on training for counterterrorism missions. In 2012, the seal of the United States Embassy in Manila was defaced by student activists to protest the exercises. Disaster relief and crisis response have since become important focuses for the U.S.–Philippine security relationship and a key impetus of the EDCA agreement. The
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were among the first to arrive in the Philippines after
Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...
hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013. At the immediate request of the
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, US and international relief agencies arrived three days after the storm to provide aid and assistance to the thousands of injured and homeless. The
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provided over $37 million in aid.


Summary of the agreement

According to Ambassador Goldberg, the goal of the EDCA is to "promote peace and security in the region." While outlining new defense-cooperation measures, the agreement also allows for the United States to respond more quickly to environmental and humanitarian disasters in the region. Designed to supplement the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement, the EDCA reaffirms mutual cooperation between the United States and the Philippines to develop their individual and collective capacities to resist armed attack by: improving interoperability of the two country's armed forces, promoting long-term modernization, helping maintain and develop maritime security, and expanding humanitarian assistance in response to natural disasters."Document: Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement"
''Official Gazette'', April 29, 2014
The agreement allows for US forces and contractors to operate out of "agreed locations" (see Agreed Locations section below). Although no specific locations are given in the main body of the initial Agreement, they are defined as: "facilities and areas that are provided by the Government of the Philippines through the
Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including the P ...
(AFP) and that United States forces, United States contractors, and others as mutually agreed, shall have the right to access and use pursuant to this Agreement". The Agreement "codifies the conditions of limited military cooperation between the Philippines and the United States." It hands over all operational controls of these "Agreed Locations" to the United States, and allows US forces to pre-position and store defense materiel, equipment, and supplies. The Agreement makes clear that this materiel cannot include nuclear weapons. The EDCA is effective for an initial period of ten years, and thereafter, it shall continue in force automatically unless terminated by either Party by giving one year's written notice through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate the agreement (Article XII, Sec. 4 of EDCA). While the US forces may exercise operational control, put troops and equipment, construct facilities, and be accommodated in certain agreed locations, the Philippines shall still retain ownership of the agreed locations (Article V, Sec. 1 of EDCA). Importantly, the United States is not allowed to establish any permanent military bases, and must hand over any and all facilities in the "agreed locations" to the Philippine government upon the termination of the agreement. The agreement also stipulates that the US is not allowed to store or position any nuclear weapons on Philippine territory.Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs
"Q&A on the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement"
''Official Gazette'', April 28, 2014


Implementation

In April 2015, the United States government asked for access to eight bases in the Philippines, including the formerly American Subic Bay Naval Base, and
Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base in Luzon, located west of Angeles City, and about northwest of Metro Manila. It was previously operated by the U.S. Air Force and, before that, the U.S. Army, from 1903 to 1991. The base cov ...
, as well as locations in Luzon, Cebu, and Palawan. On March 19, 2016, the Philippines and the United States government agreed on 5 locations of military bases for the American troops under the EDCA: * Antonio Bautista Air Base (
Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
) *
Basa Air Base Cesar Basa Air Base, or simply Basa Air Base (formerly known as Floridablanca Airfield) , is an airbase currently operated by the Philippine Air Force. It is located at Floridablanca, Pampanga about northwest of Metro Manila in the Philippines. ...
(
Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
) * Benito Ebuen Air Base (
Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...
) * Fort Magsaysay (
Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...
) * Lumbia Airport (
Cagayan de Oro Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...
) The implementation of EDCA faced delays during the June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022, term of president
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
, who repeatedly expressed his disdain for the United States. However, on January 30, 2019, the United States and the Philippines officially activated the first major project under EDCA. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and US Ambassador Sung Kim led the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a human assistance and disaster relief warehouse at Basa Air Base in the province of Pampanga. In November 2022, the Department of National Defense released a statement saying, "The Department is committed to accelerate the implementation of the Edca by concluding infrastructure enhancement and repair projects, developing new infrastructure projects at existing Edca locations, and exploring new locations that will build a more credible mutual defense posture". This will allow US troops to stay in the country for an extended period. Five additional locations were being considered, one each in the provinces of Palawan, Zambales, and Isabela, and two in the province of Cagayan. Upon the election of president
Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...
, the Philippines gravitated towards the United States and Philippine-China relations deteriorated. The United States requested access to four additional locations of Philippine military bases under the EDCA, to which Marcos approved. On April 3, 2023, the locations of the four new EDCA sites—three in north Luzon facing Taiwan, and one in Palawan facing the South China Sea—were announced: * Balabac Island (
Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
) * Camp Melchor Dela Cruz ( Gamu, Isabela) * Lal-lo Airport ( Lal-lo, Cagayan) * Naval Base Camilo Osias (
Santa Ana, Cagayan Santa Ana, officially the Municipality of Santa Ana (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. In the 2020 census, it had a population of 35,688 people. History The first inhabitants of the region were Negritos and (woo ...
) The governors of Isabela and
Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan (; ; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Cagayan''; ivatan language, Ivatan: ''Provinsiya nu Cagayan''; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Cag ...
, which together host three of the bases, expressed dismay at the agreement, stating they had not been consulted on the sites and did not want their provinces to pay too much for the infrastructure improvements or become potential targets of Chinese nuclear attack. Former President Duterte expressed doubts that "America will die for us ilipinos; he added Americans "have so many ships, so you heydo not need my island as a launching pad".


See also

* Balikatan * Mutual Defense Treaty (United States–Philippines)


References


External links


Full text of "Document: Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement"
on Philippine Government's Official Gazette at gov.ph.
Q & A on Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement
on Philippine Government's Official Gazette at gov.ph. {{Foreign relations of the Philippines Military alliances involving the Philippines Military alliances involving the United States 2014 in the United States United States military in the Philippines Philippines–United States relations 21st-century military alliances 2014 in the Philippines