The Philippines on Monday announced the locations of four military bases that the US will now have access to under a deal Washington and Manila signed in February.
Three of the Philippine bases will be located in northern Philippine provinces, a move that angers China since they can be used as staging grounds for a fight over Taiwan. The US will be granted access to the Lal-lo Airport and the Naval Base Camilo Osias, which are both located in the northern Cagayan province. In the neighboring Isabela province, the US will gain access to Camp Melchor Dela Cruz.
The US military will also be able to expand to Palawan, an island province in the South China Sea, disputed waters that are a major source of tensions between the US and China. The US will be granted access to Balabac Island, the southernmost island of Palawan.
The new locations are on top of five bases the US currently has access to, bringing the total number of bases the US can rotate forces through in the Philippines to nine. The expansion in the Philippines is a significant step in the US effort to build up its military assets in the region to prepare for a future war with China.
The US expansion is being done under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Arrangement (EDCA), a deal Washington and Manila signed in 2014 to give the US greater access to the Philippines and allow it to build military facilities. The EDCA built on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which provides the legal basis for the US military presence in the Philippines.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to allow the US to expand significantly departs from the policies of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who threatened to scrap the VFA and kick US troops out of the country over US sanctions on Philippine officials related to the country’s drug war.
Are we busy moving chess pieces?………………………………………….
The US has been moving.pieces since World War Two when most of.colonial empire were lost and replaced with American democracy(sic) or suck.
more like Monopoly pieces.
i get the top-hat!
Risk.
!!! Great game.
Nope. Bodies. This:https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3928620-9th-navy-sailor-assigned-to-coastal-virginia-dies-by-suicide-in-little-over-a-year/
Ahhh.
EIGHT HUNDRED military bases dotting the entire planet not enough??? Better add 4 more to encircle China some more. Empire logic.
And the beat goes on More war mongering no peace just more death It is a hell of a way to rule the world and kill.the planet So.much for humans being.able to.live a long and healthy life.
It’s déjà vu all over again.
I flew into Cubi Point in September 1984 all the way from San Diego with stops in Honolulu and Guam on the way. Love the Philippines.
Money for bases in Philippians. No money for a border wall?
No money for universal healthcare, no money for infrastructure, no money for education, no money for homelessness, no money for anything that makes a society healthy and happy. Just for ruin and death.
Now I am depressed. :-}
“Apples don’t fall far ….”
Is there a prize?
The ironic one, of course where we all get to pay the price for neocon military aggression.
Looks like the Philippines want more BX and commisary locations throughout their land so they can have better access to Spam and other U.S. supplied goodies. As long as the BX and commisaries stay well stocked their will be no trouble.
One would almost think the US is planning some sort of ‘special military operation’ to demonstrate to China why we can’t afford secure borders or universal healthcare.
Meanwhile……..
from Benar news: The Philippines and China will hold ”preparatory talks” in May on joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, Manila said Tuesday, amid a territorial dispute and despite the Philippine Supreme Court ruling such activities unconstitutional.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo said the government would issue updates on the joint plan, after Sen. Francis Tolentino questioned the energy cooperation plan with China announced in January.
“In light of the joint statement issued during the president’s state visit to Beijing last Jan. 5, on the agreement ‘to resume discussions on oil and gas development at an early date’ the Philippines and China will meet for preparatory talks in Beijing sometime in May,” the DFA said in a statement. “The meeting will discuss parameters and terms of reference.”
Back in January, both sides had said the bitter, ongoing territorial dispute in the South China Sea was not the sum total of bilateral relations. https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/philippine/joint-oil-exploration-with-china-04042023111132.html
The Philippines are playing both sides…..
Probably the best way to bring the U.S. empire building to an end is to create a currency that can eliminate the use of the dollar in transactions between nations ending the ability of the U.S. to use the dollar to entice(blackmail) other countries into doing the bidding of the U.S. Problem is, we will probably have a global war before that is brought about as China, Russia and other countries are in the process of doing that, but it will take some time.