THE white beaches of Burgos, Pangasinan in Barangay Iliw-iliw is the most western part of the Philippines in the mainland of Luzon at the West Philippine Sea.
Lying on the West Philippine Sea, Barangay Iliw-iliw is a mere 233 kilometers from Scarborough Shoal, 600 kilometers from an unidentified island, and 800 kilometers from Paracel Islands. All of which the People’s Liberation Army of the People’s Republic of China has built facilities on and are secured by maritime militia.
Yet, Barangay Iliw-iliw in Burgos, Pangasinan was not part of the Philippine-US joint army exercises; only the neighboring province of Zambales is involved, together with Ilocos Norte, Aurora, Palawan and Antique.
The biggest-ever Balikatan exercises, composed of more than 17,600, more than 12,000 of them US military personnel, were conducted from April 11 to April 28, 2023, even as new sites for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) had been identified.
Before the exercise ended today, the people of Iliw-iliw spotted US bombers and helicopters flying by followed by a series of explosions.
The blasts were so loud, they could damage one’s hearing, they said.
The Iliw-iliw folk, however, said they could not locate where the deafening noises were coming from, not from the sky nor the sea.
By the way, this is the same location where an “unidentified flying object” similar to an unmanned weather balloon was spotted hovering last year. Oh, until now, no official explanation has been given as to what the “UFO” was actually.
Reports about the exercise mention the inclusion of live fire at sea and actual military assault on beaches.
We, who have not seen the actual military exercises, could just imagine how worried the people of Barangay Iliw-iliw about the havoc they were wreaking on the environment.
“Were the pawikans, seahorses, stingrays and fishes safe from the firebombs?” “What damages were sustained by the corals?” Will this affect my catch when I go to sea tomorrow?”
With the termination of the US-RP Military Bases Agreement in 1992, permanent basing is no longer possible in the country.
However, the EDCA, signed in 2014, allows US access to Philippine military bases and areas for joint training, pre-positioning of equipment, and building of facilities such as runways, fuel storage and military housing.
There were five original EDCA sites after the deal’s signing: Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City.
The new sites are the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan.
