Philippines to announce new bases...

“The defense treaty with the Philippines... is about mutual protection and peace and security in the region in general,” Kendall said.

Earlier, Galvez and U.S. Ambassador Marykay Carlson led the groundbreaking ceremony for the project to rehabilitate Basa Air Base runway and its facilities in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

EDCA was signed in April 2014 to supplement provisions of the PH-U.S. visiting forces Agreement.

“After almost eight years of delays and legal challenges, the EDCA implementation is now in full swing. Today, we laid down the time capsule to signify openly the start of the necessary rehabilitation of the Basa Air Base as one of the EDCA priorities,” Galvez announced.

In his speech during the ceremony, he noted that out of 15 approved EDCA projects, five were already completed, five are ongoing and the remaining five are up for implementation soon, adding that already completed projects include the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) warehouse, a C2 Fusion Center and fuel range tanks.

He noted that the Basa Air Base runway rehabilitation project is expected to be completed in September 2023 and make it ideal for the efficient conduct of joint task force exercises and as a natural hub for HADR operations.

This year’s Balikatan exercises set in April will be the biggest ever, with around 17,600 participating troops, of whom 12,000 are Americans.

PH-China consultations

Meanwhile, the Philippines and China will hold consultations this week covering the two countries’ bilateral relations and maritime issues, including developments in the West Philippine Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Tuesday, March 21 that it is hosting the 23rd PhilippinesChina Foreign Ministry Consultations (FMC) and the 7th Bilateral Consultations Mechanism (BCM) on the South China