By JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY GIOLAGON
THE new military agreement between the Philippines and the United States will allow for the deployment of any number of American servicemen and assets to any point the local military allows.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in a low-key ceremony Monday in Camp Aguinaldo. It took place just hours before the arrival of US President Barack Obama for a one-day official visit to the country.
“The EDCA is designed to promote between the Philippines and its defense treaty ally the United States the following: interoperability, capacity building towards AFP modernization, strengthening AFP for external defense, maritime security, maritime domain awareness, (and) humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” according to a primer issued right after the ceremony.
Negotiator Lourdes Yparaguirre said the implementation of EDCA will be taken up in regular annual consultations like the Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board that plan US military activities in the Philippines.
As such, EDCA does not specify how many US troops will be deployed at any one time, how long they will stay, or where they can stay. Technically, this leaves all military facilities open to the US.
Government has not made public an actual copy of the agreement.
The primer only compiles information about EDCA released piecemeal over the eight months that the Philippines and the US were negotiating it. The primer confirms, though, that the US can construct new facilities or improve on existing ones in the areas that they will be given. Ownership of these infrastructure will be turned over to the Philippines when the US leaves the area.
This would be 10 years, which is the duration of the effectivity of the agreement, unless both parties agree to renew the arrangement.
Leftist groups such as Bayan describe EDCA as a reversal of “gains” achieved with the withdrawal of the US bases in 1992.
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes has demanded the release of the text of the agreement, insisting that EDCA is a de facto basing arrangement in violation of the Constitution.
In a previous interview, Reyes said his group is prepared to question the legality of EDCA before the Supreme Court.
In a case such as the EDCA, only the High Court can direct Malacañang to scrap a signed agreement.
But there are other sectors that view the new agreement in a positive http://taminternational.com/cheap/ light.
Businessmen in Olongapo just outside the perimeter walls of the old US naval base in Subic, are actually quite eager to see an increased presence of US servicemen in the country.
Subic may now be a civilian commercial complex, but it can still host port calls by US Navy ships as it has been doing the past years.
Furniture distributor and contractor Ruben de Guzman saw the heyday of Olongapo when the US base was there and he saw how Olongapo crashed after they withdrew.
He also stuck around to help and see the city come out from mourning and achieve a level of affluence thanks to foreign locators that set up shop inside the Subic special economic zone.
With the signing of EDCA, he expects an increase in the frequency of ship visits to Subic and an even more brisk business for everyone from the smallest vendor to the bigger businesses such as restaurants, bars, and hotels.
“Business is ok now, but if the US military comes back then there will be more for everyone,” de Guzman said.
He does not see Subic hosting too many US servicemen since area is operating almost to full capacity from businesses that have a 50-year lease on their property.
“But more ship visits means more tourists and everybody will benefit from that,” he explained.
Click here for the complete text of the PH-US Enhanced Cooperation Agreement
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