Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6) – The runway rehabilitation project of the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga has been completed, allowing the airport to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft.
Funded under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the P1.3-billion-peso runway rehabilitation is by far the largest project between the Philippines and the United States under the deal, according to the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
\”The runway is now ready to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft, such as the PAF’s cargo planes. Further, the improved runway ensures safer conditions for training and operations of aircraft, especially during response to emergencies and calamities,\” PAF said in a statement on Monday.
Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Romeo Brawner, and US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Ewing led the turnover ceremony of the completed runway on Monday, November 6.
\”Nations must have the authority and the strength to enforce international law within its territorial jurisdiction and within areas where it has sovereign rights and other jurisdictions,\” Teodoro said.
The defense chief said that it is only natural for Washington to support its oldest treaty ally in building a credible and reliable defense posture.
\”We are not looking for war. We are not looking for conflict. We are just reasserting our rights, which UNCLOS and relevant Philippine laws secured to us,\” he added.
For the US, the existing and new EDCA sites will not only support the Philippines militarily but will also contribute to the local economy.
\”As I have said before, if the Mutual Defense Treaty is the ‘why,’ then EDCA is the ‘how.’ EDCA deepens the defense cooperation between our two great nations,\” Ewing said in a speech.
There are nine EDCA sites in the Philippines that US troops can access on a rotational basis.
Access deal with Japan eyed
In the same event, Teodoro expressed optimism over the immediate completion of the reciprocal access agreement (RAA) between the Philippines and Japan.
\”We got the authority to negotiate the agreement and we hope we will be able to finish the agreement the soonest possible time,\” Teodoro said.
The deal is expected to be similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which will allow troops of one country to freely visit another temporarily.
\”The Philippines and Japan are two of our closest allies in this region and we share our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, as well as free markets and democracy. The more we welcome trilateral cooperation and I think it’s only natural,\” Ewing said.
