Philippines announces four new locations for military bases used by US forces

Asia-Pacific, News, US April 4, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has announced four new locations where the U.S. military forces would be allowed to have access under the expansion of the military defense agreement between the two countries.

In February 2023, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited the Philippines and South Korea, seeking a deeper military partnership with Manila and Seoul.

During Austin’s trip, the Philippines government announced that it would open access for five additional military bases to the rotating batches of the U.S. military stationed in the Philippines, however, the specific location of these military bases was not announced at that time. The U.S. has stationed its troops in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

A statement released by the Philippines Presidential Communication Office on April 3, 2023, revealed the locations for four new sites where the U.S. forces would be allowed to station. The four sites will be in Isabela and Cagayan, on the island of Luzon, facing north towards Taiwan, and on Palawan, near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

The statement said that these locations are considered “suitable and mutually beneficial” after assessment by the Philippines military and other relevant institutions. The statement also mentioned that the military camps in these locations would also be used for humanitarian aid and crisis relief operations.

The U.S.’s military expansion in the region comes at a time when tensions are already increasing in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.

Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba has publicly opposed having EDCA sites in his province, for fear of jeopardizing Chinese investment and becoming a target in a conflict over Taiwan, however, Philippine acting defense chief Carlito Galvez told reporters recently that the government had “already decided” on the sites and that Mamba had agreed to “abide with the decision.”

*^{The U.S. and Philippines armed forces began Salaknib Exercise 2023 on March 13, 2023. (Image Credit: Twitter/Armed Forces of the Philippines)}*

Despite being one of the main trading partners with China, the Philippines is at odds with the regional superpower in the South China Sea and has been angered by the constant presence of vessels in its exclusive economic zone it says are manned by Chinese militia

The EDCA agreement allows the U.S. troops to rotate through the bases and also store defense equipment and supplies at them. The agreement was stalled under the former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, who was inclined towards China-bloc and threatened to expel the U.S. forces from his country. Defense ties between the U.S. and the Philippines have warmed up once again since Marcos Jr. came into power in 2022.