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Pentagon: New Edca sites for ‘regional readiness’
by FRanCes
Inquirer.net
MANILA — The U.S. Department of Defense said the new sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the Philippines were aimed at “regional readiness” to address “a range of
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shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific region” amid concerns over China’s continued assertiveness in the South China Sea and its potential invasion of Taiwan.
The Philippines and the United States on Monday, April 3 identified four additional locations — including three facing Taiwan and one near Chinese artificial military outposts in the West Philippine Sea — that would allow an expansion of American military presence from the five existing sites under the defense pact signed in 2014.
“These new locations will strengthen the interoperability of the [U.S.] and Philippine armed forces and allow us to respond more seamlessly together to address a range of shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including natural and humanitarian disasters,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a press briefing in Washington on Monday.
The four new sites are the Camilo Osias Naval Base in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo
