FACT-CHECK: EDCA is not unconstitutional

Apr 24, 2024 | Fact Checked by PressOnePH

A manifesto shared by a pro-China personality falsely claimed that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States is banned under the constitution.

CLAIM: The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement is an executive agreement banned under the Philippine Constitution.

RATING: FALSE

A manifesto shared by a pro-China personality falsely claimed that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States is banned under the constitution.

In a post on X, Manila Times columnist Anna Malindog-Uy shared the “Manifesto Against US-BBM Proxy War” on April 24. 

The manifesto wrongly claimed that the “EDCA is an executive agreement banned under the Philippine Constitution, Section 25, Article XVIII.”

On Jan. 12, 2016, the Supreme Court, voting 10-4, upheld the legality of EDCA between the Philippines and the United States.

The decision was penned by then-Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

The high court did say that the EDCA is an “international agreement that allows the presence in the Philippines of foreign military bases, troops and facilities, and thus requires that the three requisites under Section 25, Article XVIII be complied with.” 

The tribunal also upheld the authority of the president to enter into an executive agreement on foreign military bases, troops, or facilities if: (a) it “is not the principal agreement that first allowed their entry or presence in the Philippines,” or (b) it merely aims to implement an existing law or treaty.” 

It added that the President alone had the choice to enter into the EDCA either through an executive agreement or a treaty. 

The high court also said that “executive agreements may cover the matter of foreign military forces if it involves detail adjustments of previously existing international agreements.”

“As it is, EDCA is not constitutionally infirm. As an executive agreement, it remains consistent with existing laws and treaties that it purports to implement.” the decision concluded. Rommel F. Lopez

 


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