Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 20) — International law expert Harry Roque on Thursday urged the government to review the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) amid a possible shooting war between the United States and China due to rising tensions over Taiwan Strait.
“EDCA will expire next year and that is why I join the call of Sen. Imee Marcos that we have to very carefully re-examine now the provisions of EDCA in lieu of the tension in the Taiwan Strait,” Roque told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
During an inquiry on Wednesday, Sen. Marcos, the head of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, questioned the locations of the new EDCA sites in Luzon.
She said the four additional areas seem to be random and were no longer in line with the military’s modernization program.
The conflict between the US and China was most recently fueled by the visit of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to Washington to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Following the visit earlier this month, Beijing launched military drills around self-governing Taiwan, which it considers China’s renegade province.
READ: PH urges US, China to ‘manage rivalry’ amid rising tensions in Taiwan
Roque, who is currently in China, said he recently spoke to leaders and Filipino journalists based there who have said that there is “inevitable conflict in the Taiwan Strait, a conflict that we (the Philippines) should never be involved with.”
He pointed out that when the initial EDCA was signed in 2014, there was not much tension at that time in the Taiwan Strait.
However, the situation is different now so President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should carefully evaluate matters to keep the Philippines from getting involved in a possible war between the two superpowers, he added.
Roque said that if the tensions progress, overseas Filipino workers and communities with EDCA sites will be part of the collateral damage.
While he said he will not challenge the President’s policies, Roque urged Marcos to listen to views of other individuals regarding the issue of the establishment of EDCA sites.
