In defense of his decision to expand Enhanced Defense Cooperation sites in the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said that the Philippines will not allow these sites to be used by United States troops for launching offensive attacks.
“We will not let any of our bases be used for whatever offensive action,” Marcos said in Filipino at the sidelines of the Day of Valor commemoration in Bataan. “These [EDCA sites] are just to help the Philippines if the country needs any help.”
While his statement offers some reassurance to the nation that his government will not participate in any offensive activities in the region, the text of EDCA would show that his pronouncements may be rejected by Washington in the event of escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
EDCA provisions
EDCA provisions state –
The Philippines hereby authorizes United States forces xxx to preposition and store defense equipment, supplies, and materiel (“prepositioned materiel”), including, but not limited to, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief equipment, supplies, and materiel, at Agreed Locations.
In fact, further provisions state that prepositioned equipment includes weapons and war materiel.
According to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report of 1998, “The U.S. military stores, or prepositions, reserves of military equipment and supplies near potential conflict areas to ensure that the material would be quickly available to forces in the event of a crisis. During a crisis, prepositioning would speed U.S. response times because only the troops and a relatively small amount of materiel would need to be brought by air to the conflict area.”
This shows that prepositioning equipment is ultimately a part of Washington’s strategic plan in its EDCA sites, which is vastly different from current declarations by both Manila and Washington that the sites will mainly be used for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Bayan President Renato Reyes Jr. said that the choice of the EDCA locations in Cagayan and Isabela, taken with the provisions of the EDCA and the US military’s definition of prepositioning of materiel, leads us to conclude that this is a preparation for war, for conflicts with Taiwan.
“No assurances made by the DFA at this time can change this grim reality. The Philippines must not allow itself to be used for conflicts abroad that are against our national interest and that would be contrary to peace in the region.”
Sitting ducks
In a recent media forum, geopolitical analyst and University of the Philippines professor Roland Simbulan said that the deployment of US troops here through the EDCA bases clearly focuses on the US strategy to restrain the growth of China.
“This is really a very provocative move in the light of clear violation of the 1975 Shanghai communique, in relation to the issue of Taiwan.”
He added that the EDCA sites makes the country ‘sitting ducks.’
“Actually, the whole Philippines is an EDCA US site. The entire Philippines. You know the military infrastructure that the US established in Subic and Clark, which they made for several decades. They based it on the needs and capability of the US Navy and Air Force and they have been using them for a long time.”
Drones
On the other hand, former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocamp said that recent Balikatan exercises revealed that US forces used MQ-9 Reapers, one of the world’s most lethal unarmed aircraft/drones.
Ocampo said these drones carried out numerous strikes in combat zones over the past 16 years, and had flown on intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance missions during various joint military exercises.
He said these drones are capable of carrying 3,000 pounds of ordnance, and had engaged in combat missions in Afghanistan in 2007, then in Iraq the following year.
If the current trajectory of US-PH military relations continue, there should be no doubt that the Philippines can be made as a target of Chinese military strike, as the Marcos government continues to play into the big power game of Washington.
With the world’s most lethal drones now being used in joint military exercises, the country can soon expect that deadlier equipment and materiel will soon find its way into EDCA sites.
The President should rethink the further expansion of our military cooperation with the United States. Because if they can deploy drones today, no one can stop them from prepositioning and deploying ballistic missiles from their sites tomorrow.