CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY– Representatives from the Presidential Commission on Visiting Forces (PCVF) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recently joined a Town Hall Forum on the Philippines-United States Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and Facilitated Activities, to discuss the VFA, Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs), and the activities these agreements facilitate at the grassroots level, providing an opportunity for an academic exchange of views on SOFAS.
Newly constructed low-rise buildings now occupy the former parking area.
The town hall forum, held 06 November 2024 at the Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan (Xavier Ateneo) Corrales Avenue Campus, was participated mainly by faculty members and students of the History and International Studies Department, said Fr Amado Tumbali SJ, department chair.
“It’s important to have forums like this,” noted Lance Jestin Calub, Development Management Officer IV, Presidential Commission on Visiting Forces (PCVF) . “It’s important to have dialogues like this because ultimately, the policies with respect to the VFA should be informed by voices that are not typically heard. And that’s what the PCVF actually does. We go around the country and talk to people, talk to communities about the VFA, and we let that information feed to the policy process.”
In addition to the updated runway markings, extensive site clearing along long strips of land parallel to the runway is now apparent.
Some of the issues raised during the discussion concerned the operational status of Lumbia Air Base in Barangay Lumbia, one of the original five EDCA sites.
Lumbia Air Base, formerly known as Lumbia Airport and Cagayan de Oro Airport, now serves as a minor air base of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) as the home base of the 15th Strike Wing, the primary attack unit of the PAF. It operates various aircraft such as the OV-10 attack planes, SF-260 ground attack aircraft, MG-520 “Defender” attack helicopters, and the newly acquired Augusta Westland 109 attack helicopters. (MaxDefense Philippines, 2017)
At the northern end of the runway is a a newly constructed parking apron along with fresh runway markings.
Another PAF unit, the 10th Tactical Operations Group, also operates at Lumbia. The airport has been selected by the US military for building their facilities under the EDCA.
Under the EDCA, US forces are allowed to set up storage facilities and station forward personnel to maintain them, and must also be accessible for use by the AFP. The US military calls these facilities pre-positioning areas wherein supplies, equipment, ordnance and vehicles can be pre-positioned in storage in preparation for disaster preparedness and possible conflicts.
In reply to a query from the audience on the status of Lumbia Air Base, Calub stressed that even if it is an EDCA site, the AFP through the PAF, retains operational control of the air base.
“An EDCA site is not a base. When we talk about EDCA sites, we cannot refer to them as a VFA base. It may just be a building, a warehouse, an airstrip, there are just small sites within a base. They are there to support US forces activities in cooperation with the AFP, mainly in relation to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR).”
The southern end of the runway now has a “01” marking and another parking apron.
HADR has become an important aspect of the EDCA. For instance, the US Marines were among the first responders after Typhoon Yolanda (International name Haiyan ) hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Upon the urgent request of the Philippine government, American and international relief agencies arrived three days after the storm passed to provide aid and assistance to the thousands of injured and homeless. The US alone provided over $37 million in aid.
US forces within EDCA sites are not allowed to join AFP soldiers in military actions within the country. But they do share intelligence and information with the AFP, and vice versa. But there are limitations, and only for specific operations. Furthermore, there are restrictions on access to our military camps by foreign military personnel, Calub added.
As new airport hangars are built; various residential subdivisions are also sprouting in the vicinity of the air base. (satellite imagery from Satellites.pro and Google Earth courtesy of CDODev.com)
Dennis M. Lalata, a PCVF consultant since 2014 who has been directly involved in research, strategic planning, national security and development advocacies for some 37 years, explained that EDCA is a 2014 arrangement by which the US can rotate forces and access agreed-upon Philippine military bases with the right to build storage facilities and to preposition equipment, but does not permit permanent basing.
The US initially allocated $82 million for infrastructure at five existing EDCA sites, with a future expansion to $100 million to encompass the new sites. The five original sites are Basa Air Base in Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan; Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu; and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro.
Four new EDCA sites have been added to the five existing locations. On this map, red markers refer to new sites, and yellow to existing ones. (Google Earth)
On April 3, 4 new bases were identified as EDCA sites in Luzon: Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and, Balabac Island in Palawan (Cabrisante, 2023)
“In addition to the five existing sites, these new locations will strengthen the interoperability of the US and Philippine armed forces and allow us to respond more seamlessly together to address a range of shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including natural and humanitarian disasters,” the US Department of Defense (DoD) declared.” The DoD will work in lockstep with the Philippine Department of National Defense and Armed Forces to rapidly pursue modernization projects at these locations.”
The five EDCA sites incorporate 15 infrastructure projects, but just five have been completed to date. They include an HADR warehouse, fuel tank and Command & Control (C2) fusion center in Palawan.
The U.S. Embassy in Manila previously disclosed that $11.4 million has been allocated for EDCA works at Fort Magsaysay, $1.8 million for Antonio Bautista; $2.7 million for the Benito Ebuen, and $3.7 million for the Lumbia Air Base.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and US President Joe Biden with their spouses at the White House in May 2023.
The US$28-million rehabilitation of Basa Air Base’s 1.7 mile (2.8km) runway commenced in March, with work to be completed by September. Construction has also begun on a 1.8 mile (3km) runway on Balabac, which will also receive an HADR warehouse, barracks and other military facilities.
Signed on 28 April 2014 during the administration of the late Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, following the departure of the U.S. military in 1991. EDCA allows for U.S. forces to stage material and increase rotational presence of US troops in ‘agreed locations’ throughout sites in the country. In February 2023, during a visit by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the agreement added five more additional sites for use by U.S. forces. Manila and Washington also have a 1951 mutual defense treaty.
