President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines will not allow United States troops to access more bases of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

"The answer to that is no. The Philippines has no plan to create any more bases or give access to any more bases," he told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in Manila on Monday.

''No, definitely no. The Philippines has no plans to open or establish more EDCA bases," he added.

It can be recalled that the EDCA sites have increased from five to nine after Marcos approved in February 2023 the expansion of American access to four more military bases in the Philippines.

The approval of Marcos for the four additional EDCA sites was announced by United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a press conference last year between former Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez in Camp Aguinaldo.

The four new EDCA sites at Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan while the five existing sites were located at Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Airport Base Station in Cagayan de Oro, Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Antonio Bautista Airbase in Puerto Princesa in Palawan. Robina Asido/DMS