The Strongest Ally

The presence of US military bases in the Philippines began when Spain ceded it to the United States after the outbreak of Spanish-American war in 1898. However, when the country gained its independence from the Americans in 1946, it didn’t cease. Tracing from history, the country has entered into agreements and treaties with the U.S. in matters of retaining military bases of the latter: the Military Bases Agreement (MBA) of 1947, the Military Assistance Agreement of 1947, the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) of 1951, and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) of 1999. The Philippines being a former colony of the U.S. has evidently maintained a strong relationship with the latter.

Early this year, the Philippines and the United States concluded the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA for brevity) by virtue of an Executive Agreement entered into by the leaders of both countries. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, EDCA paves way to the increased presence of American troops in the country and gives them wider access to military bases on Agreed Locations but does not authorize permanent establishment of US bases within the archipelago.

In an article posted on 19 October 2015 on the “We Are The Mighty” website, the Philippine military has remained ill-equipped despite challenges in the region making it the sixth worst in the world. On the other hand, the U.S. remained to be the largest. Noting this, it is not questionable why the President, backed with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, humbly asked for the assistance of the U.S.

When asked about the EDCA, President Obama said in an interview:

“With respect to the new Defense Cooperation Agreement that’s been signed, the goal here is wide-ranging. We’ve had decades of alliance with the Philippines, but obviously in the 21st century we have to continue to update that. And the goal for this agreement is to build Philippine capacity, to engage in training, to engage in coordination – not simply to deal with issues of maritime security. But also to enhance our capabilities so that if there’s a natural disaster that takes place, we’re able to potentially respond more quickly; if there are additional threats that may arise, that we are able to work in a cooperative fashion.”

The Philippines has been under three regime of colonization- Spanish, Japan and U.S. Among the three, it is only the U.S. that we have consistently maintained an ally with. It is our pride that our past generations have made it to attain independence. Independence is to have total freedom from the control of outside forces. However, it must not to be understood as total reliance to the very limited resources that our country has. We need assistance. What is independence if there is no stability?

EDCA is timely, just and needed. We need reliance and alliance with the U.S. it being proven to be the only one to have remained as our strongest ally.