📷: Statement of General Romeo S Brawner Jr PA, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on the Strategic Use of EDCA Sites for Disaster Response to Typhoon Crising and the Southwest Monsoon. (AFP Facebook)
ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio today denounced the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for “cynically weaponizing” the devastation wrought by Typhoon Crising and the on-going southwest monsoon rains to push for the permanent expansion of Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites and the establishment of a new US ammunition manufacturing and storage facility in Subic.
“The Filipino people are still counting casualties and drying out their homes, yet the AFP and the Marcos administration are already parading the tragedy as Exhibit A for why we need more US bases and more US arms on our soil,” Tinio said. “It is the height of disaster opportunism.”
Tinio pointed to AFP Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.’s recent announcement deploying EDCA sites as “primary hubs” for relief operations while simultaneously highlighting US “interoperability” and “shared facilities” as proof of Washington’s benevolence.
“Walang nakikitang kahihiyan ang AFP sa paggamit ng kalamidad para himukin ang taumbayan na tanggapin ang tuluy-tuloy na presensya ng base militar ng mga Amerikano,” Tinio said.
The lawmaker warned that the Subic ammunition facility would stockpile US precision-guided bombs and intermediate-range missiles aimed at China, instantly turning the whole region into a target.
“EDCA sites are not neutral evacuation centers; they are forward-operating bases,” Tinio stressed. “Every relief airlift doubles as a live drill for rapid weapons deployment. The floods merely provide the perfect pretext.”
“We will not let the Marcos Jr. administration and the US turn every typhoon into a marketing pitch for more bases and facilities,” Tinio declared. #
