EDCA ‘credible deterrent’ against China, must be rushed – Bower

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is the Philippines’ “most credible deterrent” against China, a Southeast Asia expert at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

Ernest Bower, Senior Adviser and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies at CSIS, at the same time said the declaration of EDCA’s legality

will allow the United States (US) to spell out the scope of its commitment to the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

“The Philippines’ most credible deterrent to China’s stepped-up unilateral actions in the South China Sea is under the pen of Maria Lourdes Sereno, the chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court,” said Bower in his latest piece.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg signed the EDCA April last year, hours before President Barack Obama arrived in the Philippines for his state visit.

The agreement was signed after some eight months of negotiation.

But after more than a year since the signing in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo took place, the Supreme Court (SC) has yet to decide on the constitutionality of the agreement.

The EDCA would involve stationing American troops, planes, and ships in the country on a rotational basis, and would also help the Philippines boost its maritime security through closer cooperation with the US military.

“Filipinos have become increasingly concerned about China’s continuing reclamation in the disputed waters of the Spratly Islands and the threats those actions pose to the Philippines’ sovereign interests. Still, many have not connected the dots on the urgent need to move ahead with the EDCA, preferably before Obama visits the Philippines to attend this year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in November,” observed Bower.

Urgency

He added that Filipinos “should speak out with a nation-unifying sense of urgency to encourage the court to make its decision so that the Aquino administration can move ahead with necessary actions to enact the EDCA”.

Bower noted that if the EDCA is in place before Obama arrives in November, “one can expect a historic visit with a robust set of deliverables focused on strong U.S. investments in enhancing Philippine defense capabilities at eight military facilities across the Philippines over the next 10 years”.

In addition, passing the EDCA will provide a platform for other countries interested in supporting the Philippines, such as Japan and Australia, to invest in increased defense and maritime awareness capabilities alongside the Philippine and the US militaries.

“This scenario will also potentially pave the way for Obama to visit areas outside of Manila during his trip, where he can meet with local leaders who will benefit from planned infrastructure investments under the EDCA and beefed-up local capacity to respond to natural disasters and provide homegrown humanitarian assistance to people in need,” said Bower.

Clarifying US commitment

He further said that passing the EDCA will allow the two governments to move on to address the “next pressing issue in US-Philippines relations – what many Filipinos see as the lack of clarity in the US commitment to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty”.

It can be recalled that Obama declared during his visit to Manila last year that the US has an “iron-clad” commitment to the Philippines.

Bower said if the EDCA is passed, Obama “will be more likely to clarify the scope of US commitment if Washington perceives a strong commitment to [the] partnership from Manila.”

“Such a pledge could reasonably extend the United States’ commitment to come to the defense of Philippine forces as well as ships and aircraft that are attacked in disputed waters,” he stated.

However, if the SC does not move expeditiously on the EDCA and the agreement is not in place before Obama’s visit, “the White House will have to ask whether the Philippines is serious about implementing its treaty alliance with the United States,” said Bower.

“Obama will also be more constrained in his ability to talk about potential US investments in the Philippines’ defense modernization efforts, thereby sending signals to Beijing of Manila’s uncertainty even as Filipinos will be preparing to head into a national transition that will elect a new president to replace Aquino in May 2016,” he added.