MILITANT group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) commended President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, October 25, for "seeing things clearly" in his plan to junk the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca).
"Maayo kaayo na nga balita, nagpasalamat mi ana kang Digong kay naklaro na gayud niya ang tinuod na hulagway sa soberenya sa nasod, nakita niya unsa pagpahimulos sa US, dako ni nga achievement sa iyang pagka-Presidente," Barros, Bayan spokesperson for Northern Mindanao Wildon, said.
"Kung atong isumada, gikan 1898, human pag-assume sa US sa Pilipinas, wala man ma industrialize ang Pilipinas sa ilang kamot tawon, nagpabilin man kita nga import-dependent, export-oriented. Buot pasabot, dili paman lambo ang ekonomiya ang sa nasud, gani agricultural paman gihapon kita," Barros said.
Duterte, in a statement on Tuesday, has threatened anew to scrap Edca.
"We have the Edca? Well, forget it. If I stay here long enough, one day, that Edca will – if it’s an executive agreement, then I will have…,” Duterte said, ending his statement by sweeping his hands, indicating the possibility to cancel the agreement.
Edca was signed by the Philippines and the United States (US) in 2014 to bolster defense and security cooperation between the two countries.
The President had already ordered his legal team to scrutinize thoroughly the Edca upon learning that it does not bear the signature of his predecessor, former President Benigno Aquino III.
Duterte had warned the US that he would repeal the joint agreement if the finding of the legal team shows that Edca is deemed ineffective because of Aquino's failure to sign it.
Prior to his warning, Duterte took an apparent swipe at US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel for criticizing his rhetoric and deadly war on drugs.
Russel went to the Philippines and met with defense and foreign ministers on Monday, following Duterte's announcement last week that the country would separate from the US.
Duterte downplayed Russel's statement and said that it was the Americans who started the feud with the Philippines.
"You know, I did not start the fight, they are the ones who started it," the President said.
Cagayan de Oro City’s old Lumbia Airport is one of five sites earlier identified by the Department of National Defense that will be used by the Americans under Edca. (With Sunnex/PJO)