MANILA, Philippines — The presence of American military facilities in the Philippines could make the country a target amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, Sen. Erwin Tulfo warned yesterday as he called for a review of the country’s Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States.
Tulfo, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, told dzBB that US bases in the Middle East have recently been subjected to attacks, raising concerns about the safety of Filipino civilian communities situated near EDCA sites.
“With all these instances where other countries target American facilities, we have to review EDCA because we might become a target of regional conflicts,” he said.
The senator pointed out that commercial areas and local businesses often surround these military facilities, putting civilians at risk of collateral damage.
“I need to consult the Senate leadership and look at what we can do about EDCA, consult majority and minority for our countrymen,” he added.
Signed in 2014, the EDCA allows the US to rotate troops and maintain facilities within designated Philippine military bases.
The renewed push to review the pact comes as US military installations in the Middle East increasingly become targets of retaliatory missile and drone strikes by Iran and its proxy forces.
Senate finance committee chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian stressed that the Philippines as a developing nation cannot afford to be dragged into a war.
“We need to look after our own interests. We are a developing country and our continued growth is important. We could not afford to be involved in these conflicts because it is really hard to recover,” Gatchalian said.
Gatchalian, however, expressed confidence in the country’s security cluster to balance its alliances while defending the nation’s interests.
For her part, Rep. Sarah Jane Elago of women’s group Gabriela said that the administration should not just be concerned with overseas Filipino workers, but should also “scrap” the EDCA to avoid more collateral damage in the ongoing US-Iran war.
Contingency plans
Addressing the direct impact of the Middle East crisis, Tulfo said contingency plans have been established in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Migrant Workers and Philippine embassies across the Middle East.
Should repatriations become necessary, Tulfo explained that air travel is unfeasible and repatriation should go through safe zones such as Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
To fund these emergency extractions, Tulfo and Gatchalian highlighted that the Senate had already anticipated the regional instability and proactively injected additional funding into the agencies’ repatriation war chests during the bicameral conference.