The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations holds its first hearing on Friday, 6 March regarding government's response to the widening conflict in the Middle East.
Senate PRIB
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assured Friday that the Philippines maintains a “good relationship” with Iran, shrugging off growing fears of a potential Tehran strike against EDCA sites amid its continued drone and missile attacks on Israel and the United States.
The DFA made the assurance during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the government’s response to the widening conflict of the Israeli-US war on Iran, following concerns from panel chairperson Erwin Tulfo and Senator Rodante Marcoleta that the Philippine-American shared military bases may pose a provocation to Tehran.
DFA Assistant Secretary Germina Usudan told the committee that the Iranian government had already been informed as early as 11 November that the Philippines retains full ownership and control over EDCA sites, not the US.
This was made clear during the Philippines’ “political consultation” with Iran, just months after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June last year.
“The military establishments here were mentioned, and we explained that these are not US bases. And we maintained [a] good relationship with Iran,” Usudan said.
“In fact, we have just sent a letter of condolences for the death of [Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]. We’re trying to separate this, your honor, from the war and for the bilateral relations of the Philippines and Iran,” she added.
Nevertheless, the DFA vowed to take note of the concern and confer with the concerned office responsible for handling the bases.
Marcoleta argued that although the Philippines maintained possession and influence over EDCA sites, “Iran might understand this as something potentially harmful to them.”
He cited Article 3, Paragraph 4 of EDCA, which stipulates that the US has operational control of these agreed locations for construction activities, making it a “potential danger” to the Philippines.
Tulfo initially raised the concern over the weekend, fearing that the EDCA sites could be a potential hazard to the Philippines and may be targeted by Iran’s reprisal attacks against neighboring countries that host US military bases, like the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan, though most of the strikes were intercepted.
Department of National Defense Assistant Secretary for Strategy and Policy Jeffrey Hechanova, in response, explained that EDCA sites differ significantly from US military bases established in the Middle Eastern countries attacked by Iran. Thus, a potential Tehran retaliatory strike is implausible.
Hechanova averred that American military facilities in the said regions were either “permanent” or “semi-permanent,” where supply depots and US military personnel are present.
Unlike the EDCA sites, where Philippine military bases could “only be made available to [US troops] if we allow them.”
US troops have been granted military access to the Philippines under EDCA, a pact between the Philippines and America that aims to deepen their defense cooperation under the Mutual Defense Treaty, signed in 2014.
Under the administration of President Marcos Jr., American troops have been granted access to four more EDCA sites, bringing the total military bases to nine as of 2026. EDCA sites are not US military bases, but allow American forces to use the facilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Tulfo, meanwhile, suggested that the DND invite Iran to visit EDCA sites in an effort to assure that the bases pose no threat to them. He added that the same shall also be extended to China, which has strongly contested the US’ expanded access to Philippine military bases amid the heightening tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
However, Hechanova said access to EDCA sites is only exclusive to counties allied with the Philippines or to regions with which Manila shares a defense agreement and cooperation. Currently, the Philippines has no defense pact with Iran.
“But in certain cases, there are certain processes and protocols that we need to establish in order to make sure that we don’t go beyond what is being authorized by our government in terms of visits to facilities which we consider secure facilities,” Hechanova told Tulfo.
The Israeli-US war on Iran has entered its seventh day on Friday, with few signs of abating following the death of several of Iran’s top leaders. The Philippines is already reeling from the global economic impacts of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, following a spate of petroleum price increases. Fuel prices are expected to further spike next week, with P18 per liter for diesel, while P8 for gasoline.
