Bayan calls on Duterte to halt Edca implementation

Militant group Bayan Muna and other cause-oriented groups stage a protest rally along Kalaw streeet in Manila on Tuesday, the last day of US President Barack Obama’s state visit to the Philippines. The police used water cannons to disperse the ralliers and to prevent them from getting close to the US Embassy. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Monday urged the Duterte administration to halt the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation (Edca).

“The Edca is a mere executive agreement thus, the President has the power to terminate it after a thorough review,” Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes said in a statement released on Filipino-American Friendship Day, which marks the country’s independence from the US.

Reyes reasoned that the Edca has always been deemed  “grossly disadvantageous to the Filipino people” as well as a violation of national sovereignty.

Edca allows US forces to have “primary” or exclusive use of local military facilities without paying rent. But the Aquino administration defended it by saying that the agreement will help enhance the military capabilities of the Philippines.

READ: Official: ‘Guest’ US may use AFP facilities exclusively under Edca

“Malacanang and the DFA should review the arrangements entered into by the Aquino government, especially those arrangements entered into during the last 100 days of the Aquino regime,” Reyes said. “Details of the arrangements should be disclosed as a matter of public interest.”

Reyes argued that the construction of supposed US military facilities in the Philippines should also be halted.

Edca is a supplemental agreement signed by the Philippines and the US in 2014 to further boost their alliance. The Supreme Court ruled in January that it is constitutional

This military agreement between the Philippines and the United States was upheld by the Supreme Court last January after critics argued that it was illegal since it was not submitted to the Senate for ratification.

The high court said the Edca, which is supposed to support the existing Visiting Forces Agreement, is considered an executive agreement and not a treaty. Kirsten Jamilla, INQUIRER.net trainee/KS/rga

READ:  Supreme Court upholds legality of Edca