EDCA expansion and...

and stakeholders’ participation on the proposed EDCA expansion in Cagayan.

Rather than promote Philippine security interests, EDCA expansion can therefore endanger Philippine interests as it can drag the country into a war not of its own choosing.

As candidly argued by Harry Roque, an expert in international law and foreign relations, “Participating in any war does not serve our national interest. We must never allow our territory to become a launch pad for an offensive attack against another state.”

It is therefore imperative for patriotic and freedom-loving Filipinos to oppose EDCA and its expansion to make the Philippines a zone of peace rather than the battleground of an American proxy war. (Philstar.com)

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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

by Catherine S. Valente ManilaTimes.net

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for all her help and guidance on her 76th birthday on April 5.

“I would like to extend a very grateful and very joyful happy birthday to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,” Marcos said in a video uploaded on his Facebook account. Without her “advice” and

“guidance,” Marcos said that “many” of the decisions made by his administration would not have been possible.

“I cannot do this greeting without mentioning all the help and assistance and guidance that you have provided in all of the things that we have been,” he said.

“So thank you very much for that, President GMA, and I’ll just add a very, very happy birthday,” the President added.

Arroyo supported the presidential candidacy of Marcos in the 2022 elections. In November last year, Marcos referred to Arroyo as his “secret weapon” during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Thailand. Arroyo was the country’s first female House speaker and led the lower chamber from 2018 to 2019. She has so far served three terms as representative of Pampanga’s second district, from 2010-2013, 2013-2016 and from 2016-2019. n