THE rotational presence of American troops in the country under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) has started in the presence of US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter over the weekend.
US troops and equipment will be in the country under a rotational scheme to enable American servicemen and Filipino soldiers to jointly respond to crisis—natural or man-made.
The US troops’ rotational presence in the Philippines was unofficially announced by Carter himself after his meeting with President Aquino in Malacañang.
“Some Americans here for this exercise [Balikatan] will be staying behind on a rotational basis to continue joint training and working with our Philippine allies to contribute to regional security and stability. I thank these service members for taking on these important assignments,” he said.
The start of the pivot, which will allow US troops and their state-of-the-art assets and equipment, including warplanes and ships, in five selected military bases in the country, took place even as both the Philippines and the US are still working on the technical side of the defense agreement.
“Our planners are working on identifying the technical requirements for the selected sites, where agreed locations could be developed,” said Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin, who accompanied Carter during his visit to Malacañang.
“We are optimistic that the Edca would significantly contribute to our efforts in enhancing the interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Pacific Command, or Pacom, by developing the facilities that could be used for our approved Philippines-US activities,” he added.
However, Carter indirectly implied that the temporary basing of US soldiers in the country has already started, with part of those who participated in the two-week Balikatan and the Stennis Carrier group, that was sent to the country during the period, to stay behind for regional security duty.
“A contingent of US aircraft and their crews and pilots that participated in Balikatan will stay behind at Clark Air Base. We’ll do this, in fact, on a regular basis. The initial contingent, five A-10 ‘Thunderbolt’ aircraft, three H-60G ‘Pave Hawk’ helicopters and one MC-130H ‘Combat Talon’ aircraft will stay behind,” he said.
“And 200 airmen, including pilots, will continue joint training, conduct flight operations in the area, including the South China Sea, and lay the foundation for joint air patrols to complement ongoing maritime patrols,” he added.
“A command-and-control center manned by American personnel here for the exercise will also remain behind. They will continue exercising combined US-Philippines command-and-control capabilities and support increased cooperative activities in the region,” Carter added.
Never in the history of the Balikatan that American servicemen, who have participated in the annual bilateral exercise, have stayed behind, and while US forces occasionally visits the country, they only do this during port-call visits or when they are on humanitarian assistance and disaster-response operations.
When the Philippines and the US were working on the details of the Edca in 2014, Filipino defense officials said the agreement should help the country deal with the aggressive China in the West Philippine Sea, other than training and boosting the equipment-lacked military.
Gazmin has said the Edca will serve as the country’s temporary but primary territorial defense plan while the government is beefing up the capabilities of the Armed Forces.
Based on the same statement of Carter, activities under the Edca has even started as early as last month, and this was in the form of a joint patrol in the West Philippine Sea, where Chinese military and paramilitary vessels were a constant sighting during the past months.
“Last month we commenced joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea. These patrols, an alliance decision at our two-plus-two ministerial, which Voltaire [Gazmin] and I held with our respective secretaries of foreign affairs in Washington in January,” Carter revealed.
“These patrols will continue to help build our interoperability and improve the Philippine Navy, even as these patrols contribute to the safety and security of the region’s waters,” the candid Pentagon chief revealed.
Gazmin, however, tried to downplay the joint patrol, saying it was in the form of a passing exercise.
“We conducted such joint patrols as part of our passing exercises or the passexe. Our planners are examining ways on how to make such patrols as part of our regular activities,” he said.
Passing exercise is an activity which ensures that two navies can work and communicate together during times of peace and war.
As spelled out by the Edca, both the Philippine Navy and the US Navy are required to conduct joint patrols, especially in the West Philippine Sea.
Image credits: AP