POSSIBLE environmental mishaps and political loopholes of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) were discussed on “EDCA Forum: On Political and Environmental Perspectives” at the Beato Angelico AVR on October 1.

The participants were informed of the foresighted social, political, and environmental impacts of the agreement of the United States and the Philippines.

UP Professor of Development Studies and Public Management Rolando Simbulan showed all the negative impacts of the previous treaties of the Philippine government with the United States Military.

“The United States will always be restrained in helping our country because of its own dilemma, which is Budgetary Constraints that their government can’t even explain to the American people why they spend so much maintaining their military installations overseas and are still unproductive,” Prof. Simbulan exemplified.

Simbulan also talked about the historical backgrounds of the presence of the US Military, highlighting their former bases in Subic, Zambales and in Clark, Pampanga.

He explained that after the Americans vacated the premises during the Cory administration, they also left toxic waste materials that killed an undisclosed number of people in small communities due to asbestosis and other lung and skin ailments.

Moreover, co-presiding speaker Dakila Yee, an instructor at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College centered his speech on technical terms that makes our government’s position on the downside of the agreement.

He said many of the provisions of EDCA were vague and undefined properly that an ordinary citizen might misunderstand.

He gave the provision on American Military Personnel that cannot be trialed in any courts in the country if they violate Philippine laws as an example.

This provision gives them diplomatic immunity in criminal cases such as rape, murder, environmental destruction and etc.

“Can you imagine? Kahit senador ka pa o local authority ka, wala ka [ng laban],” Yee added.

Vencer Crisostomo, a student leader from the University of the Philippines and co-founder of MAY PAG-ASA talked about how to contextualize the EDCA matter correctly.

“You ought to be inspired by the youth-led first Quarter Storm and EDSA People Power that brought down [dictatorship] and that you can do more,” Crisostomo challenged the Thomasians.

He stressed that the youth having a sense of nationalism and love of country should be the very foundations to conquer hindrances to our country’s national development and interests.

“Magmahal ng wagas… sa bayan at mamamayan,” Crisostomo said.

The forum was spearheaded by EARTH-UST, in cooperation with MAY PAG-ASA, a non-government youth organization advocating youth nationalism and patriotism.

Photo by Carmelo Culvera