Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte has warned of the possibility that the Philippines will be involved should a third world war happen due to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites installed by the United States in the country.
During his program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” aired on SMNI News, the former president said the EDCA locations in the country could be used as staging sites should conflict erupt between the US and China.
“May I lay this predicate na I’m not trying to be fatalistic or war-mongering. If I would place the scale of an imminent war, on a scale of one to 10, I would place the situation right now on a seven,” Duterte said.
“Whether or not the Philippines would be struck, I could place it at eight or nine because of the bases of the Americans there,” he added.
The former president said his interests were not for anyone else but the Philippines.
However, he also said that in the event of conflict between China and the US, the Philippines would be caught in the middle.
“You know, if there is war, it would not be started by Taiwan against China. They are all Chinese, and besides, they do not want it,” he said.
Duterte also admitted that it was now difficult to “extract” because of the two countries’ “almost ironclad relations in terms of military.”
“Because even our military would also be thinking of what would become of us if there’s any conflict. The fact is that we cannot get out of it anymore. As a matter of fact, we added more places where they can exist and congregate, and these are the bases that were distributed in Luzon, in the Visayas and maybe in Mindanao,” he said.
Duterte said that while he worked to strengthen the country’s military during his time in office, he recognized it was not enough to take on other nations.
“During my time, I can only do so much… ewan ko ngayon (I really don’t know now). But I can only talk during my term because I made sure [that] the Philippine military and the police would have the same thinking that I have adopted. It’s not because I hate America, it’s not because I like China more than anybody else, I’m just thinking of my own country,” he said.
“I’ve been posing this question to China, of what good it will do to you if you strike us? That was before. But if you would ask me now and I would answer, I would say we will hit you because you entertain so many American bases here. So the American bases would be the staging ground for an attack by air or missiles or what[ever] from the Philippines to China. Sila lang man ang may away, wala tayo (The dispute is between the two of them. We are not involved),” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had said that four additional EDCA sites were “scattered around” the country “to defend our eastern coast” and the country’s continental shelf.
This brings the total number of military sites that US troops have access to for training and keeping supplies related to humanitarian relief efforts in the Philippines to nine.
The first five sites are located in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Nueva Ecija, Palawa, and Pampanga. The US has provided over $83 million to pursue the approved 21 bilateral projects in existing locations.
The agreement was signed in 2014 as a supplementary deal to the existing Visiting Forces Agreement between Manila and Washington.
While it provides US troops access to military facilities, the Philippines retains its sovereignty over the agreed locations, and the Philippine president is the one who approves which military bases will be included in the agreement.
“The EDCA was primarily envisioned to develop our own bases and facilities in line with our overall efforts to enhance our defense posture, especially our preparedness for responding to disasters and emergencies,” then Defense officer in charge Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a statement in February. — Catherine S. Valente
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Credit belongs to : www.manilatimes.net
