What’s next for the US-Philippines basing agreement?

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is expected to work on dozens of projects this year to upgrade military bases as part of an agreement with the United States.

Signed in 2014, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement allows the U.S. to allocate funding to improve and construct facilities within existing Philippine military bases as well as to deploy American troops on a rotational basis.

For example, the Philippine government has proposed airstrip repairs for this year at Naval Base Camilo Osias, on the northern tip of the country’s island of Luzon, as part of the upgrade plans financed by the United States.

And some 42 miles southwest of the base, at Lal-Lo Airport, also in Cagayan province, the government is considering construction of a fuel storage facility and a command center.

The two countries identified five bases for the EDCA initiative in 2014, then added another four bases, including the two in Cagayan, in 2023. Notably, several of the newly accessible bases abut the South China Sea to the north.

China has decried some of the EDCA’s base locations due to their proximity to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province and has threatened to take back by force. Although the U.S. officially does not support Taiwan’s independence, Washington does provide it with weaponry, and U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

“Whereas the U.S. claims that such cooperation is intended to help the disaster relief efforts of the Philippines and some Americans even tout the EDCA sites as [a] driver of [the] local economy, it is plain and simple that those moves are part of the U.S. efforts to [encircle] and contain China through its military alliance,” the Chinese government said in March. “To bundle the Philippines into the chariots of geopolitical strife will seriously harm Philippine national interests and endanger regional peace and stability.”

There’s also been local opposition. In 2022, provincial Gov. Manuel Mamba openly opposed the live-fire Balikatan exercise in the area, warning it could “anger” China and “bring war closer to the Philippines.”

The governor did not respond to Defense News’ request for comment.

Projects and price tags

Plans are already underway to fortify the newly accessible bases. This year will likely see Washington and Manila expand their cooperation and ready their respective navies to counter China’s assertions of ownership over parts of the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have been locked in increasingly tense territorial disputes over the busy and resource-rich South China Sea. Washington lays no territorial claims to the strategically important waters but has deployed ships and aircraft for patrols that it says promote freedom of navigation and the rule of law. In turn, that military presence has infuriated Beijing.

At the announcement of the new basing deal in February, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin thanked Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for allowing the U.S. military to broaden its presence in the Philippines — Washington’s oldest treaty ally in Asia.

In a recent statement to Defense News, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson Cmdr. Matthew Comer said the American government spent $56.8 million on the initial five EDCA sites from 2014 to 2023, during which it completed 14 projects.

But according Col. Medel Aguilar, who spoke to Defense News when he was the Philippine military’s spokesperson, the U.S. government provided nearly $82 million for 21 projects on those five bases from 2014 to 2022. Aguilar is now head of the armed forces’ civil relations office.

Military personnel load boxes of relief goods for victims of a typhoon aboard an American V-22 Osprey aircraft at the Philippines' Lal-Lo airport on Aug. 3, 2023. (Jam Sta Rosa/Getty Images)

Indo-Pacific Command estimates 34 construction projects will begin this fiscal year, while the Philippine military has identified 14, including the construction or rehabilitation of multiuse facilities, piers, airports, warehouses, vertical landing pads, barracks and riprap .

“Our focus is on the 9 existing sites and the continued deliberative process with the Philippines to determine future requirements,” Comer wrote in an email to Defense News. “EDCA is about Philippine military modernization, not about the positioning of U.S. military assets.”

Aguilar declined to discuss specific monetary figures for the projects, instead saying the budget is different for each base and depends on the proposed activity.

In August, the U.S. reportedly proposed building a port in Batanes province facing the Bashi Channel, located about 125 miles from Taiwan. In October, the Philippine Navy inaugurated a naval detachment on Mavulis Island, also in Batanes, “to uphold maritime law and order while safeguarding our maritime territories,” the service said in a statement.

But local foreign affairs expert Julio Amador III said the EDCA initiative should also involve preparations for an influx of refugees if a war breaks out in the region.

Amador was director general of the Philippine government’s Foreign Service Institute and has been involved in defense talks since 2012. He is now the founder and chief executive of the consultancy Amador Research Services.

The EDCA projects should not just focus on military needs, he told Defense News, but also “other areas like [whether] we have the capacity to house the refugees.”

Furthermore, he thinks the American side should reassess its focus.

“Sometimes when we meet the American interlocutors, they tell us Taiwan is the priority, [and we say] if that’s the case, then prepare to not have us,” Amador said.

Still, he explained, “nobody wants the Americans to leave because they know once the Americans leave, China will be more aggressive.”

Geoff Ziezulewicz with Navy Times and staff from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.

菲律宾马尼拉——根据与美国达成的协议，菲律宾预计今年将开展数十个项目，以升级军事基地。

2014 年签署的《加强防务合作协议》允许美国拨款改善和建设菲律宾现有军事基地内的设施，并轮流部署美军。

例如，菲律宾政府已提议今年对位于该国吕宋岛北端的卡米洛·奥西亚斯海军基地的简易机场进行维修，这是美国资助的升级计划的一部分。

在基地西南约 42 英里处的拉洛机场（同样位于卡加延省），政府正在考虑建造一个燃料储存设施和一个指挥中心。

两国于 2014 年确定了 5 个 EDCA 倡议基地，然后在 2023 年又增加了 4 个基地，其中包括卡加延省的 2 个基地。值得注意的是，几个新开放的基地北部与南海接壤。

中国谴责《加强防务合作协议》（EDCA）中部分军事基地选址靠近台湾，北京视台湾为叛乱省份，并威胁要武力收复。尽管美国官方不支持台湾独立，但华盛顿确实向台湾提供武器，美国总统拜登也承诺，一旦中国入侵台湾，美国将保卫台湾。

中国政府3月份表示：“尽管美国声称此类合作旨在帮助菲律宾进行灾后重建，一些美国人甚至将《加强防务合作协议》（EDCA）项目点吹捧为当地经济的驱动力，但显而易见，这些举措是美国通过其军事联盟包围和遏制中国的一部分。将菲律宾卷入地缘政治冲突的漩涡，将严重损害菲律宾的国家利益，并危及地区和平与稳定。”

当地也存在反对意见。2022年，省长曼努埃尔·曼巴公开反对在该地区举行实弹“肩并肩”联合军演，警告称这可能会“激怒”中国，并“使战争更接近菲律宾”。

州长没有回应《国防新闻》的置评请求。

项目和价格标签

目前，美方已着手加强新近开放的军事基地的防御工作。今年，华盛顿和马尼拉可能会扩大合作，并做好各自海军的准备，以应对中国对南海部分海域主权的主张。

中国和菲律宾，以及越南、马来西亚、文莱和台湾，在资源丰富且航行繁忙的南海，领土争端日益紧张。华盛顿并未对这片具有重要战略意义的海域提出领土主张，但已部署舰船和飞机进行巡逻，声称此举是为了维护航行自由和法治。而这种军事存在，反过来激怒了北京。

今年 2 月宣布新的军事基地协议时，美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀感谢菲律宾总统小费迪南德·马科斯允许美军扩大在菲律宾的存在——菲律宾是华盛顿在亚洲最古老的条约盟友。

美国印太司令部发言人马修·科默中校最近在接受《防务新闻》采访时表示，美国政府在 2014 年至 2023 年间为最初的五个 EDCA 项目地点花费了 5680 万美元，期间完成了 14 个项目。

但据时任菲律宾军方发言人的梅德尔·阿吉拉尔上校向《防务新闻》透露，从2014年到2022年，美国政府为这五个基地的21个项目提供了近8200万美元的资金。阿吉拉尔现在是武装部队民事关系办公室主任。

2023年8月3日，在菲律宾拉洛机场，军方人员将装满救灾物资的箱子装载到一架美国V-22鱼鹰倾转旋翼机上，这些物资将用于援助台风灾民。（Jam Sta Rosa/Getty Images）

印太司令部估计本财政年度将启动 34 个建设项目，而菲律宾军方已确定了 14 个项目，包括多用途设施、码头、机场、仓库、垂直着陆平台、营房和护岸的建设或修复。

科默在给《防务新闻》的一封电子邮件中写道：“我们的重点是现有的9个基地，以及与菲律宾继续磋商以确定未来的需求。《加强防务合作协议》旨在促进菲律宾军事现代化，而不是美国军事资产的部署。”

阿吉拉尔拒绝讨论这些项目的具体金额，而是表示每个基地的预算都不同，取决于拟议的活动。

据报道，美国于8月提议在巴丹群岛省修建一座面向巴士海峡的港口，该海峡距离台湾约125英里。10月，菲律宾海军在巴丹群岛的马武利斯岛设立了一个海军分遣队，“旨在维护海上法律和秩序，同时保卫我们的海上领土”，该军方在一份声明中表示。

但当地外交事务专家胡里奥·阿马多尔三世表示，EDCA倡议还应包括为该地区爆发战争时难民涌入做好准备。

阿马多尔曾任菲律宾政府外交学院院长，自 2012 年以来一直参与国防谈判。他现在是咨询公司阿马多尔研究服务公司的创始人和首席执行官。

他告诉《防务新闻》，EDCA 项目不应只关注军事需求，还应关注“其他领域，例如我们是否有能力安置难民”。

此外，他认为美方应该重新评估其战略重点。

阿马多尔说：“有时我们与美国对话者会面时，他们告诉我们台湾是优先事项，（我们会说）如果真是这样，那就做好不接待我们的准备吧。”

但他解释说，“没有人希望美国人离开，因为他们知道一旦美国人离开，中国将会更加咄咄逼人。”

《海军时报》的杰夫·齐祖列维奇和美联社的工作人员对本报道亦有贡献。

莱拉尼·查韦斯是《防务新闻》的亚洲记者。她的报道专长是东亚政治、发展项目、环境问题和安全。