Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
March 4, 2026

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said officials of the Armed Forces and the Defense Department are lying to the Filipino people by spreading the absurd spin that the “agreed locations” under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) are not US military bases.

EDCA is a treasonous circumvention of the Constitutional prohibition on establishing a foreign military base in the Philippines. It effectively establishes permanent U.S. military bases in disguise, bypassing Constitutional restrictions. Through flexible “Agreed Locations” scattered nationwide for ongoing equipment storage, training, and swift operations, it turns the whole Philippines into a sprawling U.S. military base—well outside the MDT Article II’s scope of joint defense readiness. Furthermore, its operational descriptions resemble how the US uses forward operating bases, or “lily-pad” bases, elsewhere.

Just as these forked-tongue officials say that the Visiting Forces Agreement only allows temporary deployment of US troops inside the country, the truth is that the so-called rotational deployment effectively means permanent presence. In the same way, EDCA sites are only temporary so long as the US decides when and how long these bases remain in Philippine territory.

EDCA is even worse than the rejected RP-US Military Bases Agreement because the US can set up facilities based on its military requirements. There are currently 9 declared EDCA sites, but US military presence and activities are not limited to these sites. The Marcos Jr. government has allowed the US to operate and build facilities in non-EDCA locations such as Subic, Laoag Airport, Batanes, and some parts of Palawan.

EDCA endangers our people’s safety and well-being and undermines national security. US rivals and actual enemies of the US can target US military facilities in EDCA and non-EDCA sites. Even Camp Aguinaldo has a Combined Coordination Center operated by both US and Philippine authorities.

The ongoing crisis in Iran and West Asia is a stark reminder of the need to urgently dismantle the US military facilities in the Philippines, the removal of Typhon and other missile systems, a stop to RP-US military exercises, and the abrogation of military deals—VFA, Mutual Defense Treaty, Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA)—that violate our sovereignty aside from endangering the lives of Filipinos.

EDCA will certainly be utilized by the US for such critical needs as refueling and storage of weapons to attack other nations. We should not allow the US to use the Philippines as a staging ground for its acts of military intervention and aggression. #