By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) will not build US military bases in the Philippines, clarified White House National Security Council (NSC) senior director for Asian Affairs Evan Medeiros.
Neither is EDCA an agreement designed at resolving a particular maritime dispute, he added.
“Rather, it’s a framework that will allow us to train and to exercise with the Armed Forces of the Philippines on a range of missions, including humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, maritime security, countering transnational crime and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, for example,” said Medeiros.
He said the US will be working with the Philippines “in a way that we were not able to do before this agreement.”
Medeiros, however, declined to go into specifics because the agreement itself is just a framework that creates a legal and policy infrastructure.
“It’s sort of like the skeletal and the muscular infrastructure that over time, as we talk with the Philippines about what their needs are and what missions they want to work with us on, we will then work through what the specific nature of the training and the exercising will be,” he explained.
What is clear, said Medeiros, is that the US and the Philippines is not doing this because of China.
On the West Philippine Sea territorial dispute, Medeiros said the US position is “opposing the use of intimidation, coercion or aggression by any state to advance their maritime territorial claims.”
“And to the extent that our work with our alliance partners and our security partners helps them become more capable and not being vulnerable to intimidation, coercion or aggression, we think that’s a good thing,” Medeiros said. “That’s one of the reasons why we seek to modernize our alliances and our security partnerships in the region.”
US Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes, on the other hand, cited one event that gave some momentum and underscored the importance of this type of agreement – the humanitarian crisis brought by super typhoon “Yolanda.”
The US was able to reach affected areas much more effectively than any other country could due to its capabilities, Rhodes stressed.
“And this type of agreement could allow that. For instance, US air and naval assets would contribute to the ability to have a very nimble and effective response to a disaster like a typhoon, which tragically is not a non-common occurrence in this region,” he explained.
Rhodes reiterated that EDCA is not an agreement with a particular maritime dispute as a focal point.
“We have made very clear that there should be a cooperative approach to addressing maritime disputes consistent with international law, that there should be an avoidance of an escalation of tension,” he said.
At the same time, he made it clear that the US has “an interest in the free flow of commerce and open sea lanes.”
“Having the United States present not just in this agreement but in the region more generally, we believe, provides a sense of stability that contributes to a security environment that avoids escalation and conflict,” stressed Rhodes./PN
