MANILA — The United States is expecting to allocate at least $100 million for the development of infrastructure in the 9 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the Philippines, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday.

Austin gave the remark during a press conference in Washington after the Philippines and the US held its 2+2 Ministerial meeting for the first time in 7 years, and days after the traditional allies announced the location of 4 new EDCA sites in the Southeast Asian country.

• EDCA sites may be used by PH, US for 'emergency situations': AFP

“We’re proud of the investments we’re making, and by the end of FY ’23 we expect to have allocated more than $100 million in infrastructure investments at the new and existing EDCA sites,” Austin said.

“So those investments will spur job creation and economic growth in local Philippine communities,” he said.

Austin did not elaborate on what would be built in Philippine military camps where American troops would be able to access, but noted that the 2 countries are “also committed to swiftly finalizing the US–Philippines bilateral defense guidelines, which charts our vision for alliance cooperation across all operational domains, including space and cyberspace.”

“In the face of coercion and gray zone aggression, Secretary Galvez and I agreed to redouble our efforts to strengthen our combined ability to resist armed attack by modernizing our armed forces,” Austin said.

• PH, US Balikatan exercises to focus on coastal, maritime defense
• Marcos says EDCA sites won't be used for offensive attacks

“We also discussed near-term plans to complete a security sector assistance roadmap to support the delivery of priority defense platforms over the next five to ten years, including radars, unmanned aerial systems, military transport aircraft, and coastal and air defense systems,” he said.

“We’re building on some 500 defense engagements that our militaries conduct each year, and we’re forging new ties between our militaries and expanding the breadth of our cooperation,” he added.

Earlier this week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the 4 new EDCA sites — mostly situated in the northern Philippines, near Taiwan — “will not be used for offensive attacks.”

But Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said that details on how the EDCA sites would be used are “still open to discussion.”

“We have to identify the terms and references, how these activities will be undertaken so I don’t think we’re really at any stage yet to answer how they might be used,” Manalo said in Washington.

“They’re still open to discussion. But I think we have already reached an understanding that the basic elements of these sites would be, the basic purposes of these sites would be to address humanitarian disaster-related events, to increase and improve interoperability and training of Filipino and American assets, and also to be in a position to improve the interoperability and perhaps respond to other types of security challenges,” he said.

“Our defense establishments recognize the need to work together to enhance our interoperability, increase our defense capacity, and build our resilience against emerging challenges,” Philippine Defense Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

“To this end, we agreed to explore new areas of cooperation and deepen our existing partnership in key areas such as mutual defense, maritime security, and information/intelligence sharing, and joint sails and solidarity patrols,” he said.

The military games between the Philippines and the United States this year would be “the biggest ever” with 12,000 US personnel, 5,000 Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel, and 111 Australian defense forces and observers from other like-minded countries participating, he said.

• Gov’t planning to finish construction of existing EDCA sites by 2024: DND

The Philippines is the United States’ oldest treaty ally in the Indo-Pacific region.

The 2 countries signed the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) in 1951, which guarantees that both nations would come to the defense of the other in the event of an attack.

The EDCA, signed in 2014, strengthens the MDT by allowing US troops to “access and to use agreed locations” in the Philippines for “security cooperation exercises, joint and combined training activities, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities, and other activities as may be agreed upon by the parties.”

The Philippines and the US agreed that the “partnership will need to play a stronger role in preserving an international law-based international order,” the Filipino Foreign Affairs chief said.

“This means ensuring the conduct of high-level and high-impact, high-value joint exercises, trainings, and other related activities. We especially welcome the United States pledge to fast-track and to ramp up support for the modernization of our defense, civilian law enforcement, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities, especially in the maritime domain, as well as the implementation of EDCA projects and investments in and around EDCA-agreed locations,” Manalo said.

For US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Philippines-US alliance “is an enduring source of strength for both of our nations.”

“Our relationship is based on the shared interests and values of Americans and Filipinos, including our abiding commitment to democracy,” Blinken said.

“Secretary Austin and I also reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to standing with the Philippines against any intimidation or coercion, including in the South China Sea, and to preserving a region that’s governed by international law where goods and ideas and people can move freely,” he said.

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