American military to have additional access in the Philippines

Subic Bay, Philippines. (Steven Borowiec)

In addition to the four military bases that the US was granted access to, the Philippine government is looking at providing access to additional sites. The Philippines has not named these sites yet. However, there is a possibility that the US had requested locations in Isabela, Zambales, Cagayan, and Palawan. Many local governments appear to support the Philippine government’s decision for these added locations.

From Reuters:

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr last month granted the United States access to four military bases, on top of five existing locations under the 2014 EDCA, which comes amid China’s increasing assertiveness towards the South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan.

Speaking at the Basa Air Base in Manila, one of the existing EDCA sites, visiting U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the defence agreements between the two countries were “not focused on any particular issue.”

EDCA allows U.S. access to Philippine 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.

While the Philippines has yet to formally identify the sites, a former military chief has publicly said the United States had asked for access to bases in Isabela, Zambales and Cagayan, all on the island of Luzon, facing north towards Taiwan, and on Palawan in the southwest, near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Reuters has additional information.

Category: Air Force, Army, Marines, Military issues, Navy