Within two-and-a-half years in Malacañang, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has practically gifted the United States its intent to re-establish a deeper and stronger military presence and influence in the Philippines.
He did so under the aegis of the 2024 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s persistent coaxing during four official visits to the country. In his last visit early this week, a military intelligence-sharing agreement called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was signed by him and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
The accord purports to enable the two allies to have “real-time classified intelligence and information-sharing for a common operating picture, and it will help boost interoperability for many, many years to come,” according to Austin.
The two defense secretaries led the ground-breaking ceremony of the Combined Coordination Center (CCC) at Camp Aguinaldo, the AFP’s headquarters. The CCC, Austin pointed out, “will be a place where our forces can work side by side to respond to regional challenges.” He capped his remarks with the oft-repeated US “iron-clad commitment” to the Philippines’ defense.
Expectedly, the progressive people’s organizations are highly critical. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) immediately denounced the GSOMIA as “a blatant act of subservience [to the US]” and accused the Marcos Jr. administration of being “corrupt and treasonous” by surrendering the country’s security interests to the US.
Noting that the agreement does not have an expiration date, Bayan warned it could be a tool for the US to exert indefinite influence in the country’s security policies. As a prerequisite to the signing of the agreement, American officials were allowed to inspect more potential EDCA sites. The GSOMIA has yet to be approved by the President, but apparently it is already a done deal at the defense ministerial level.
The US embassy in Manila came out with a statement, saying the ground-breaking for the CCC represents a significant milestone in the US-Philippine alliance. The new facility, it said, was designed to enhance interoperability through the Pacific Multidomain Training and Experimentation Capability that will allow the AFP and US armed forces to operate as a “combined command center for strategic planning, joint operations, intelligence-sharing and rapid-response coordination.”
The CCC, the US embassy further said, “symbolizes the deepening of ties, reflecting on the ironclad partnership that has evolved through consistent training like the Balikatan Exercises (begun in 2002) and the Multilateral Marine Combined Activities, which emphasize cooperation and defense modernization.” Moreover, the CCC is supposed to integrate new defense technologies and joint training, reinforcing the readiness of the US-Phl alliance to meet both conventional and nonconventional challenges.
Defense Secretary Teodoro remarked that the CCC is a unified picture of the shared areas of responsibility and common approaches to threats against the securities of both the US and the Philippines.
Welcoming these developments, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. described them as “the dawn of a new era in collaboration and partnership between the Philippines and the US, particularly its armed forces.”
The CCC, he noted, would enhance the capabilities of the AFP and US both in humanitarian assistance and disaster response and maritime security. It ensures that both forces “can act swiftly and effectively when the need arises,” he said. It would also allow Filipino and US troops “to train as one, plan as one and respond as one.”
Is this really a desirable situation for the Filipino people?
Acknowledging Austin’s “leadership and his impact” on the country’s defense department and the Filipino nation, Teodoro conferred on him an Outstanding Achievement Medal last Monday. In part, the citation says:
“(Austin) has been instrumental in reinforcing the enduring partnership between our two nations and sharing our shared values of democracy, freedom and peace continue to guide our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Secretary Austin’s remarkable contributions have not only strengthened the Philippines-US defense relationship, but have also played a central role in advancing regional stability and security.”
Through the establishment of US military facilities in nine so-called EDCA sites inside Philippine military bases, the US now has two vital outposts in the country. Both are intended to strengthen US capability to confront China’s increasing military assertiveness in the region.
One is the EDCA site at the Lal-lo Air Base in Cagayan, the one nearest to the Taiwan Strait, where both the US and China stage military exercises. The other EDCA site is in the Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan. It faces the West Philippine Sea (WPS), where Chinese naval vessels have been harassing Philippine ships on missions to supply food and other necessities to AFP troops based on a grounded naval ship in the Ayungin Shoal.
Played up by the national media was Austin’s disclosure, during a visit to the Command and Control Fusion Center in Palawan on Wednesday, of a Task Force Ayungin (TFA), composed of American soldiers. Austin said he had met with some of the US soldiers and thanked them for “their hard work on behalf of the American people and our alliances and partnership in this region.”
After ignoring a lot of questions about the task force, the US embassy and the AFP confirmed its existence. But it appeared that the AFP was trying harder than the US side to justify the TFA.
The US embassy said the task force has improved US interoperability with the AFP, particularly in securing the WPS. Its initiative, the embassy stressed, “aligns with multiple lines of cooperation between the US and Philippine forces.”
Marcos Jr.’s national security adviser Eduardo Año confirmed he knew about the TFA’s activities in Palawan, but nothing else. The unit is “internal” to the US, he said, asserting that all military activities or operations in the Ayungin Shoal and the West Philippine Sea in general were solely carried out by the Philippines.
All these evasively general, vague statements are surely covering up something much bigger. The Filipino people are entitled to know.