US INDOPACOM to send crisis action team to Philippines to boost disaster response

Manila, Philippines – A composite team from one of the US combatant commands in the Asia Pacific will descend on the Philippines to augment the government’s humanitarian and disaster response in the wake of back-to-back storms, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr.said on Wednesday, July 23.

Teodoro made the announcement via a taped message from Washington, D.C. where he earlier met US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of an official visit of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner agreed to deploy a “crisis action team,” Teodoro said. The plan comes just a few hours after Brawner ordered the activation of nine military sites covered by the Philippine-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) for use in humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.

The USINDOPACOM is one of six geographic unified combatant commands of the US military. These commands are headquartered in Hawai'i and have forces stationed and deployed throughout the Asia Pacific with about 375,000 military and civilian personnel.

“Magdedeploy po ang crisis action team ng USINDOPACOM, kaalinsabay po ng ating Armed Forces of the Philippines, at lahat po ng pangangailangan ng ating mga response efforts ay naka-activate po ang EDCA sites at ang air assets at iba pang assets ng combined Armed Forces of the Philippines at USINDOPACOM ay gagamitin po,” Teodoro said in the video message distributed by Malacanang.

[Translation: USINDOPACOM will deploy a crisis action team, alongside the Armed Forces of the Philippines. All air assets and other assets of the INDOPACOM and AFP in EDCA sites have been activated and will be tapped for response efforts.]

The EDCA military sites are a deterrent to aggressions amid tensions in a flashpoint in the West Philippine Sea, allowing the interoperability of US and Philippine troops, with rotational forces from the US stationed there. The sites provide training grounds for joint military drills, but also serve as a takeoff point for the troops to respond quickly to challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including natural and humanitarian disasters.

The EDCA sites count the Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa and the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.

The agreement later expanded in 2023 to add four new sites: The Naval Base Camio Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and, Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan.

No timeline was given as to when the US humanitarian troops will arrive.

“Tatanggapin natin kung anuman ang tulong na maibigay para maibsan itong pag-responde natin. [We will accept whatever form aid will come so as to augment our disaster response efforts.] We are expecting that anytime soon of course,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla told a press briefing on Wednesday.

“The faster the aid comes in then it is better for all of us,” she added.