EDCA: Legal and Beneficial

It can be traced in history that Filipinos had fought against colonization and for their independence in order to free themselves from the oppressors. Since then, hundreds or even thousands of Filipinos, men and women, had lost and sacrificed their lives towards this goal. These noble efforts by our heroes and forefathers led to the declaration of Philippine independence and the establishment of its sovereignty. Now, comes the time for the new generations to steers the wheel and determine the fate of their motherland.

Social changes, be it environmental, political or economic affects the stability of every state. China for instance for several times had initiated acts of provocation and threatened its neighboring countries due to territorial disputes. The Philippines shall be protected at all times by its citizens and its statehood must be preserved at all costs. To ensure these policies, the government formulated programs and measures. One of them is the Mutual Defense Treaty. This treaty mandates the Philippines and the United States of America to maintain and develop their individual and collective defense capabilities against acts of aggression. In line with this treaty, another international agreement called Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was entered by the Philippines with the United States to further bolster their cooperation. It is largely designed to meet and to address the problems of the Philippines in terms of territorial disputes, protection of maritime zones, calamities, health, public safety, and military modernization.

The Philippines will benefit from EDCA as long as the provisions therein are faithfully observed and executed by authorities assigned to implement it.  One may argue that it will be detrimental to our sovereignty and integrity as a state because of some reasons, but as found in the text itself, EDCA accords if not all, majority of control and discretion to the Philippines and its authorities. The agreement is clearly constitutional as it recognizes the supremacy of the fundamental law of the Philippines as stated in its preamble. As to its nature, the executive departments of both states characterized it as an executive agreement and not a formal treaty. Thus, it does not require the consent of the Senate in either state. All other allegations to EDCA are mere speculative and have no basis since it has not been implemented yet. As Chief Justice Sereno said, “let’s give it a chance to be implemented first”.

The government is living by its mandate through this pact with the United States. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, “the Philippines will strengthen its capabilities for external and territorial defense by continuing to work with its treaty ally in a mutually beneficial way in line with what is allowed by the Philippine Constitution.” Every citizen shall support any of its activities in safeguarding the state and its integrity but at the same time vigilant not to be put in disadvantageous position. It takes patriots not idiots to realize these great responsibilities.