Marcos wants EDCA sites ‘fully utilized’ amid 'Kristine'

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. ordered Wednesday that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites must be fully utilized during the onslaught of tropical storm Kristine in the country.

“Make full use of EDCA sites for the activities ng AFP, for the airlift,” Marcos made the order during a situation briefing on tropical storm Kristine at the headquarters of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Earlier this year, the Philippines and the United States (US) agreed to boost their combined logistics capabilities in EDCA sites to accommodate a large number of military assets that can be used for military exercises and humanitarian response during emergencies.

These five existing EDCA sites include Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City, and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Mactan, Cebu.

The Philippines and the US also agreed to expand the existing EDCA sites located in Cesar Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Airport in Cagayan De Oro; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, as well as the additional four, namely the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan.

In an ambush interview, Marcos said the government is “doing everything” to readily preposition assistance to storm-hit areas.

“That’s always the key. Get the people evacuated properly, get our goods and equipment prepositioned as close as possible without them having the risk of damage para malapit na sila doon sa area na kailangan nilang serbisan pagka dumaan na ‘yung bagyo. And that’s essentially what we did,” he said.

Marcos said the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are on top of the situation regarding the use of military assets for humanitarian and disaster response (HADR) efforts.

“We included all of the different agencies, of course, the NDRRMC led by the DND. And they are prepared to provide, number one from the AFP, airlift kasi ‘yung mga kalsada hindi pa madaanan (because some roads are already not passable),” the President noted.

“And number two, they are continuing with the AFP is also continuing to monitor the situation so that we will be able to activate the EDCA sites, which were put there specifically for this purpose,” he added.

Marcos also stressed that all departments “seem to be well prepared” to address the storm's impacts.

“We have some budgeting issues simply because na mayroon tayong napakaraming dumadaan na bagyo at… ‘Di bale but that’s not something that we should worry about because we will be able to remedy that,” he added.