No attack on PH, no retaliation
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said military bases that are being made accessible to the United States under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) would not be used to launch any offensive action.
The President also said China has nothing to worry about because if the Philippines is not attacked, there will be no retaliation.
Last week, China said the US move to strengthen military deployment in the Philippines would only lead to more tension in the region. China was reacting to government’s announcement last week of the locations of four EDCA sites which are in addition to five sites agreed on in the agreement signed in 2014.
After the announcement, the US Department of Defense said it will “rapidly pursue” projects at the four additional sites.
The President, in an interview after the 81st commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan in Bataan yesterday, said EDCA was designed to boost the Philippines’ defenses.
“Ang Pilipinas, hindi tayo papayag na gamitin ang mga bases natin para sa kahit anong offensive na action. Ito ay para lamang tulungan ang Pilipinas, kapag nangangailangan ng tulong ang Pilipinas. Kaya’t kung wala naman sumusugod sa atin, hindi na sila kailangan mag-alala dahil hindi naman sila natin lalabanan (The Philippines will not allow its bases to be used for any form of offensive action. This is just to help the Philippines, if the Philippines needs help. So if no one will attack us, they do not need to worry, we will not fight with them),” Marcos said.
Marcos’ remarks come a day before the largest ever joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, which will feature for the first time live fire exercises at sea.
The US and China last month sparred over the movement of US Navy destroyer which China said had entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea. Yesterday, the same ship sailed near man-made and Chinese controlled islands in the South China Sea, with the US saying it engaged in “normal operations” within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef which lies to the west of Palawan in the Philippines.
DEFENSE CAPABILITY
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has said the four additional EDCA bases “may draw” the country into the “whirlpool of a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait.”
China ended three days of military drills around Taiwan yesterday, saying it had tested integrated military capabilities under actual combat conditions, having practiced precision strikes and blockading the island that Beijing views as its own.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control.
Taiwan’s government strongly disputes China’s claims and has denounced the drills.
Marcos said China’s concerns over EDCA are expected and understandable but the additional sites in Cagayan, Isabela and Palawan are intended to help the country improve its disaster and humanitarian response as well improve its training and territorial defense capability.
Marcos also said no new camps will be built.
“EDCA provides our only treaty partner, which is the United States, a chance to be able to come and help us in any way, especially in disaster relief, those kinds of things… what we are doing is sustaining and strengthening our territorial defense capability, our defense of the Republic,” he said.
The four new EDCA sites are Naval Base Camilo Osias and Lal-lo Airport I n Cagayan province, Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Isabela, and Balabac Island in Palawan. The five sites earlier agreed on are Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.
EDCA which was signed in 2014 as a supplementary deal to the existing Visiting Forces Agreement allows US access to the bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment, and building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing, but it is not a permanent presence.
The locations of the bases are significant, with three facing north towards Taiwan and one near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where China has built artificial islands equipped with runways and missile systems.
EDCA underlines the Philippines’ strategic importance to the former colonial ruler the United States, coming at a time of growing concern over China’s conduct in the South China Sea and tension over self-ruled Taiwan.
China is claiming most of the South China Sea. Taiwan is claiming it in parts, like the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa yesterday said China’s statements against the new EDCA sites can be interpreted as a “strategy” meant to “discourage” the Philippines from fulfilling its commitment with the US.
“We will not stop just because of them. We have long been bullied by China, and now is the time not to be bullied again),” Dela Rosa said in a virtual press conference.
Dela Rosa said the Philippines should not worry for now with the live-fire drills of China near Taiwan in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent trip to the US.
He said he sees nothing wrong as long as it is done within China’s territory, just like what the Philippines and the US are doing in their joint military exercises. — With Raymond Africa and Reuters
