Pride and Prejudice: Our Sense of Nationalism on EDCA  

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, in its face, seems to be mainly for the benefit of the country. There is a clear provision that the US would not establish a permanent military presence or bases in the Philippines; that the agreed locations would still be owned by the Philippines and would not be exclusive to the Us troops only; nuclear weapons are expressly prohibited; and, the use of these agreed locations by the US troops would only be at the “invitation” of the Philippines. These are only a few of the provisions that are clearly for the benefit of the Philippines. If I enumerate everything, I might as well post the entire agreement, because, as I see it, the whole agreement is for the Philippines.

But this agreement is vehemently met with protest. Unconstitutionality and increased crime rates are only few of the issues thrown at the agreement. Challengers allege that this is not an agreement but a treaty; therefore, it needs the ratification of the Senate. Some allege that this encroaches on the constitutional ban on establishment of foreign military bases in the country. I can’t blame them. Their sense of nationalism dictates that it is wrong, they should not be here. Philippines is exclusive for Filipinos. The US would only usurp our resources and widen their military scope and presence in Asia. It would only leave the Philippines with second rate, used machinery and equipment, abandoned buildings, pregnant women and fatherless children. Haven’t we learned our lesson, yet?

I can’t claim that I am an expert on the subject. I cannot discuss the technicalities of the agreement if taken apart piece by piece. I only want to ask this: Isn't these the reason why EDCA was created - because we do not want the history to be repeated? EDCA as I understand is a supplement to the two agreements, the MDT and the VFA. It made the two agreements better, wider in scope and more in depth. It addressed issues that formerly made us a puppet to the US Government. Now, we hold the reins. We set the rules. We make the conscious decisions that we know will benefit both the parties without endangering our sense nationalism and nationality. I believe this Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement will be beneficial, first to our military troops in training them to be more adept, equipped and skilled in defense capabilities and disaster response. To our economy: as Filipino contractors will be favored in construction in the Agreed Location. And last, to us as Filipinos. It’s time we think about our country’s real situation. It’s not enough anymore that we put our Filipino pride and prejudices first and close out everything foreign because they are not our own. It is time to open ourselves to help. We need it. It will not be weakness to accept that we need improvement. I think, in realizing and accepting that, we take a huge leap towards a better country, a better sense of nationalism.