Larger US military presence for Philippines
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The Philippines and the United States signed an agreement yesterday to allow a bigger US military presence on Philippine territory, hours ahead of a visit to Manila by US President Barack Obama.
Philippine Defence Minister Voltaire Gazmin and US ambassador Philip Goldberg signed the 10-year pact, which is seen as another element of Obama’s effort to focus US military and economic attention more heavily on Asia.
Obama said the deal would see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for joint military training exercises, but stressed that there would be no return of permanent American bases.
“Greater cooperation between American and Filipino forces would enhance our ability to train, exercise, and operate with each other and respond even faster to a range of challenges,” Obama said in a written response to questions by local television network ABS-CBN ahead of his visit.
Both panels had been working on the agreement since August last year and had eight meetings before the deal was signed.
The deal announced yesterday is only a framework agreement, with the details – such as how many US troops will rotate through the Philippines and when – to be negotiated and announced later.
“The document we signed not only manifests the deepened relationship between the Philippines and the United States but equally serves as a framework for furthering our alliance as encapsulated in the title Enhanced Defence Cooperation,” Gazmin said in his speech.
“This agreement allows us to work on what is called for under the MDT, which is the involvement of individual and collective capacities and sustainability to undertake what is possible under the Visiting Forces Agreement, which are training and exercises,” he added.
However, Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said that the signed Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the US will further antagonise China.
“Definitely, the new agreement, whatever it may contain, will further antagonise China because in effect we have given our consent that the Philippines should be listed under the American column, instead of the China column,” Santaigo said in a statement yesterday.
