MANILA - Top military and diplomatic officials from the Philippines and the United States visited three areas identified as Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in Cagayan and Pampanga on Wednesday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. was joined by Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Gonzaga, US Indo-Pacific Command commander Admiral John Aquilino, and US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson.

The Philippine and US officials flew separately to the EDCA sites at the Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo and Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, both in Cagayan.

They assessed the potential of the sites for the development of facilities to support humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations, as well as the modernization of the AFP.

Among the projects being proposed at the Lal-lo Airport include a multi-purpose storage facility, vertical landing pads, command and control fusion center, fuel storage, and perimeter fence.

“Lal-lo is one of the places the Philippines and US came together to support in the most recent [typhoons]… humanitarian assistance to the Filipino people, which is the best example as to why these EDCA sites are important,” Aquilino told defense reporters.

“Lal-lo is a great example of what can be done. The projects that were selected were designed to do immediate response to humanitarian assistance but in a more robust way, like runways, HADR warehouses. Those capabilities are specifically designed to do that to increase our ability to exercise together,” he added.

Meanwhile, the rehabilitation of the airstrip, and construction of a pier with rewatering facilities and shore power are among the proposed EDCA projects at the Naval Base Camilo Osias.

Brawner explained that all proposed projects are being outlined, vetted and ultimately approved.

“There are several projects that the Philippine side proposed to our partner, the US. It will still go through a vetting process. We are still in the planning process. We have to make sure that all the money we will spend here are worth it,” Brawner said.

He continued: “We’re not just looking at how we can operate together more efficiently, but we are also looking at the future operations we are going to conduct. All these factors should come in as we decide which projects we are going to pursue.”

After visiting the EDCA sites in Cagayan, the officials headed to the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga to inspect completed EDCA projects.

These include a command and control fusion center and the renovated runway.

• PH nod needed if EDCA sites will be used for US ops vs other countries - DFA chief

The rehabilitation of the 2,800-meter Basa Air Base runway started in late March and was completed just this September.

“I’m really impressed with the work of the teams. I’m very happy. I was here a year ago. The advance of the runway and all the sites is moving at great speed, and it’s because of the great partnership,” Aquilino noted.

Brawner, for his part, said: “We’re very happy that we saw the development of the EDCA sites… We’re also very happy at the rate of these EDCA projects have been going. We’re very optimistic that for next year, we”ll have more of these projects operational so we can work on our joint exercises right away.”

The visit to the EDCA sites is a prelude to the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) meeting which will be held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Thursday, September 14.

There, Philippine and US military leaders will discuss and determine best ways forward for both countries.

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