President Benigno Aquino III. AFP FILE PHOTO
President Benigno Aquino III on Friday hailed the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the legality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States.
READ: Supeme Court upholds legality of Edca
“To my mind, EDCA has a very practical purpose for developing our own armed forces,” Aquino said during his speech at the East West Center International Conference in Manila Hotel.
“The Philippines has a long-standing Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. We have the Visiting Forces Agreement as an adjunct of that. Under the Mutual Defense Treaty, we are obliged to come to the defense of one another, and assist each other in times of need. My question here is: How do we do that if we are not familiar with each other’s resources, equipment, doctrines, and limitations?” he explained.
“All the modern hardware carries a significant price tag; yet with EDCA, we have a chance to try the cutting-edge equipment and see just how suitable they are to our needs, without having to buy them first.,” he said. “But, if we get to train with the U.S., a far more advanced force, we can learn from them the strengths and shortcomings in using such equipment, and we can even redefine and understand such under our own parameters.”
On the other hand, Aquino said the US can learn from the Philippines on “how to make do with fewer resources,” which is often the case during conflict situations.
“EDCA has a very practical purpose for developing our own Armed Forces,” Aquino said during his speech at the East West Center International Conference in Manila Hotel.
“With Edca, we try the cutting-edge equipment and see how suitable they are to our needs without having to buy them first,” he said. “We can learn from their strengths and shortcomings from using such equipment.”
On the other hand, Aquino said the US can learn from the Philippines on “how to make do with [less] resources.”
“Anybody who is reasonable will see [EDCA as] enhancement of our countries’ abilities, rather than a threat to anyone else,” he added.
The President pointed out that the basic point of EDCA is “interoperability.”
“How do we do that (come to the defense of one another) if we are not familiar with each other’s resources, equipment, doctrines, limitations?” he said.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the EDCA with a vote of 10-4. The high court said the President had the power to enter into an executive agreement such as the EDCA as long as “(a) it is not the instrument that allows the presence of foreign military bases, troops or facilities, or (b) it merely aims to implement an existing law or treaty and holding that the EDCA is one such executive agreement.”