Philippines’ has no plans to grant US access to more bases, says president

MANILA: The Philippines has no plans to grant the United States access to more military bases, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Monday, after nearly doubling the number last year under a joint defence pact.

Beijing has previously accused the Philippines of “stoking the fire” when it increased the number of bases the US military could use to nine from five, with the new sites located close to potential flashpoints. “The answer to that is no,” Marcos said in response to a query whether the Philippines would allow the US access to more bases.

“The Philippines has no plan to create any more bases or give access to any more bases,” he told a forum with foreign correspondents. 

Last year Washington and Manila discussed further expanding the number of bases US forces could access under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) from nine. Three of the four sites faced north towards Taiwan and one was near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have had frequent maritime run-ins that included China’s use of water cannon and collision tactics.

US President Joe Biden, who hosted Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington last week at a first-of-its-kind three-way summit, has asked Congress for a further $128 million for infrastructure projects at the nine EDCA sites.The three leaders expressed “serious concerns” about China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce claimed by China despite overlapping claims by other countries.