AFP chief: PH still a ‘target’ even without Edca sites

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. —PHOTO FROM AFP FB PAGE

MANILA, Philippines — Even without the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) sites, the country remains a “target” due to its strategic location, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said on Friday.

Experts backed Brawner’s remark, noting that the country is a “prisoner” of its geography and that the most strategic areas in the country are not those with an Edca site, anyway.

“Even if there are Edca sites or not, we are still a target,” Brawner said over radio dzRH when asked to react to the impression that Edca sites will make the country a target of China.

“It’s because of our location, the geolocation of our country,” Brawner said. “Our location is very strategic, we are near Taiwan, and we are in the middle that obstructs their ships going to the Pacific Ocean.”

The Philippines is part of the “first island chain”, which experts view as the United States’ first line of defense against China’s expansion in the Pacific.

Batanes

For retired Philippine Navy Adm. Rommel Jude Ong, it is the Batanes Group of Islands which will be the most impactful since it affects three theaters of operations: the South China Sea, mid-Pacific and southern Taiwan.

“Because of its strategic location, it affects access in those three areas,” Ong said in a message to Inquirer.

Ong said that “we will be using these islands to assert sea control” along Luzon Strait-Balintang Channel, and to a certain extent along Bashi Channel.

There is no Edca site in Batanes, but the US deployed its NMESIS or Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System—an anti-ship missile designed to strike surface vessels from land-based positions at a distance of about 185 kilometers—during the recent war games of Manila and Washington in the province.

Edca in Cagayan, Isabela

“In theory, it’s not the Edca sites in Cagayan or Isabela that would have the most significant impact,” he added, noting that it would be Batanes instead.

In 2023, Malacañang announced the designation of four additional Edca site locations at Camilo Osias Naval Base in Sta. Ana town and Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo town, both in Cagayan province; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela province; and Balabac, the southernmost island in Palawan province.

READ: Palace names four more Edca sites

The Edca sites in Cagayan and Isabela are relatively near the self-ruled island, which China regards as a renegade province subject to reunification.

The Chinese Embassy to Manila condemned the new Edca sites, saying the Philippines could “get dragged by the US to interfere in the Taiwan question.”

READ: China: New Edca sites to ‘seriously harm’ PH

Edca not a root cause

However, for security expert Chester Cabalza, the Edca sites are not the root cause of the problem.

“Unfortunately the Philippines is locked as a prisoner of geography due to its proximity to Taiwan and its ongoing maritime and territorial squabble with China,” Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said in a message to Inquirer on Friday. “The Edca sites were made for deterrence against aggression and not as the root cause.”

“Given the scenario, the Philippines plays a big role on how China behaves in the region, whether it swings harmoniously with neighbors or flexes its military power for greater ambitions,” he added.

Meanwhile, there are five Edca site locations namely, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, which is closest to the Kalayaan Group of Islands; Basa Air Base in Pampanga, the home of the Philippine Air Force’s fighter planes; and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, the country’s largest military camp and a frequent location of Philippine-US military exercises.

The other two areas are Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City.

Under the Edca, the United States will be allowed to store equipment and deploy its troops inside Philippine military bases.

Since 1951, Manila and Washington have been bound by a Mutual Defense Treaty which calls for each other’s defense in case of an “armed attack.” /cb