US troopers perform drills on a 105mm Howitzer during a joint military exercise called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, at Capas, Tarlac province, northern Philippines, on 14 April, 2023. AP File
US troopers perform drills on a 105mm Howitzer during a joint military exercise called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, at Capas, Tarlac province, northern Philippines, on 14 April, 2023. AP File
New Delhi: The Philippines on Wednesday said that it won’t allow the United States to stockpile weapons that could be deployed to defend Taiwan on bases Washington has access to under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
According to South China Morning Post, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo told a senate hearing that Washington would not be permitted to conduct activities that were not stipulated in the 2014 deal.
“Our view is that EDCA is not aimed at any third country outside, its meant for use for the Philippines,” Manalo was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
Philippines’ ‘friends to all’ policy
Noting that government’s key foreign policy was really to be “friends to all”, Manalo pledged the security agreement would reflect that position.
According to The Philippine Star, the minister also said Manila would not authorise US troops to refuel, repair and reload at EDCA sites.
Senator and President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s sister Imee Marcos questioned the rationale behind the selection of the locations during the hearing.
Defence chief Carlito Galvez Jnr said the sites were chosen to protect the country’s “vulnerable” north and its maritime interests in the West Philippine Sea.
Unconvinced, Marcos retorted that she and the fishermen in the northern region did not believe they were at risk.
US has access to nine bases
Washington has access to nine sites near the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea under EDCA, which allows the US to rotate in troops for prolonged stays as well as build and operate facilities on its bases.
The new locations, according to Manila and Washington, will mostly be used to respond to natural and man-made disasters in the Southeast Asian country.
The US has been accused of using the bases to “interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its geopolitical goals,” but China has harshly slammed the pact and rejected that explanation.
China has also denounced the Philippines for its defence alliance with the US.
As a result, President Marcos said on Wednesday that he would meet Beijing’s ambassador in Manila and seek an explanation over his remarks on how the Philippines was “stoking the fire” over Taiwan’s independence.
With inputs from agencies
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