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The Philippine Supreme Court ruled that a military accord with the United States that allows increased U.S. military presence in the Philippines is constitutional, as tensions in the South China Sea continues to rise.
On Tuesday, while anti-U.S. protests took place outside, the court voted 10-4 to deny the petition of some lawmakers and activists to declare the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) unconstitutional because it surrenders Philippine sovereignty to a foreign power.
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"EDCA is not constitutionally infirm," said Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te. "As an executive agreement, it remains consistent with existing laws and treaties that it purports to implement."
Upon signing the 10-year agreement in 2014, President Barack Obama said it would allow "greater access to Filipino facilities, airfields and ports, which would remain under the control of the Philippines."
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It is thought the ruling will mean more U.S. troops will rotate through the Philippines for war games, as well as to help their Phillipine hosts build military facilities. Local officials said it would allow the U.S. to store equipment that could be used to mobilize American forces faster in natural disasters, such as typhoons that hit the nation regularly.
Filipino security expert Rommel Banlaoi believes the move is significant as it will strengthen ties between Manila and Washington as China continues to assert itself in the region.
"EDCA will be President Aquino's legacy for the next administration that is bound to implement it," Banlaoi told Reuters. "It can boost U.S. leverage in balancing China, particularly in the context of the growing U.S.-China power struggle in the South China Sea.”
The cash-strapped Philippines has been in a long dispute with China over who may claim economic and territorial rights over the resource-rich Spratly Islands.
In November the archipelago was the subject of an arbitral tribunal at The Hague.
The Phillipines opted to press its case in the tribunal following a tense stand-off with Chinese vessels in April 2012 which took control of a shoal just 220 kilometers off the main Philippine island of Luzon.
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China landed a plane on its growing man-made airbase in the South China Sea; now what? https://t.co/mXxvCXREYh pic.twitter.com/via0qqjdFG
— Foxtrot Alpha (@FoxtrotAlpha)
January 5, 2016
Manila has consistently outlined its anger at China’s program of building airstrips and defenses on some of the islands.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has territorial conflicts with Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
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