Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr last month granted the US access to four military bases, on top of five existing locations under the 2014 EDCA, which comes amid China’s increasing assertiveness towards the South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan.

Speaking at the Basa Air Base in Manila, one of the existing EDCA sites, visiting US Air Force secretary Frank Kendall said the defence agreements between the two countries were “not focused on any particular issue.”

EDCA allows US access to Philippine bases for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment and building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing, but it is not a permanent presence.

While the Philippines has yet to formally identify the sites, a former military chief has publicly said the US had asked for access to bases in Isabela, Zambales and Cagayan, all on the island of Luzon, facing north towards Taiwan, and on Palawan in the southwest, near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Leaders of local governments at the potential EDCA sites have backed the government’s decision to allow the US greater access to the bases, Philippines’ defence chief, Carlito Galvez, said in a joint news conference with Kendall.

Galvez and Kendall were leading a groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of the Basa Air Base’s runway.

“Today’s event is a physical manifestation of our Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, a key pillar of the US-Philippine alliance,” Kendall said in a speech, adding it built on a seven-decade-old Mutual Defense Treaty that applied anywhere in the South China Sea.

“We are at an inflection point in history and our cooperation will help ensure we stay on the path to peace and stability,” he added.

The runway rehabilitation is part of the US$82 million the US has allocated for infrastructure investments at the existing five EDCA sites.

“Moving forward we hope the US will consider more EDCA projects,” Galvez said.