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The Philippines has granted the United States expanded access to its military bases as tensions remain over the disputed South China Sea and the democratically-governed island of Taiwan. The US now has access to four more military bases in the Philippines as Washington looks to extend its security options in the country.
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin and Philippine defense secretary Carlito Galvez held a joint news conference on Thursday, announcing that the US will be given access to four more military bases. The expansion is under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Austin’s visit to Manila follows that of Vice President Kamala Harris back in November, who also visited the island of Palawan facing the disputed Spratly islands.
Austin described the move by the Philippines as a “big deal” as he and Galvez reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering the alliance of the two countries.
“Our alliance makes both of our democracies more secure and helps uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Austin. “We discussed concrete actions to address destabilizing activities in the water surrounding the Philippines, including the West Philippine Sea, and we remain committed to strengthening our mutual capacities to resist armed attack.”
“That’s just part of our efforts to modernize our alliance. And these efforts are especially important as the People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea,” said Austin.
The additional locations the US was granted access to would bring the number of bases to nine. Washington announced that it was allocating $82 million toward infrastructure investments in the existing sites. While Austin and Galvez did not specify which sites it would be, Galvez said the US requested access to bases in Luzon, which is the closest part of the Philippines to Taiwan and on the island of Palawan.
Earlier this week, Indonesia plans to offer 10 oil and gas working areas for 2023, including a block in the disputed waters as part of efforts to boost energy production, according to a senior energy official. This follows Jakarta’s auctioning of 13 oil and gas fields and has since appointed contractors for six of the fields.
