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MANILA, Philippines — The United States is looking into constructing Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) facilities in five more sites in the country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Monday.
In an interview with the media, AFP chief Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro said two EDCA sites would rise in Cagayan, and one each in Palawan, Zambales, and Isabela.
Defense officer-in-charge Ret. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. said the sites are primarily for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response facilities, training facilities, warehouses and operation centers.
“Nothing like, of course, based on the constitution, nuclear [weapons] are not allowed, nothing of that sort,” Faustino said in a press briefing.
The Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs need to approve the projects first in the said areas, according to Bacarro.
“It still has to go to the process,” Faustino said. “We have to consider some constitutional provisions, some of our national laws, before we could do that.”
Currently, there are five pre-determined Edca sites located at Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, which is closest to the Kalayaan Group of Islands; Basa Air Base in Pampanga, the home of the Philippine Air Force’s fighter planes; and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, the country’s largest military camp and a frequent location of Philippine-US military exercises.
The other two areas are Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City.
The US is also planning to allocate $70 million, or nearly P4 billion, in the next two years to implement EDCA.
The Edca was signed in 2014 to address Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea and respond to natural disasters.