would unilaterally abrogate EDCA because he received information that American forces were building permanent arms depots to house arms that might include nuclear tipped weapons, in violation of the agreement and of the Philippine constitution. Both the U.S. ambassador and the Philippine Armed Forces provided assurances that this was not the case, but this and other questions delayed implementation for a year. Implementation In January 2019 the United States and the Philippines officially completed the first major project under the EDCA at Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga province, north of Manila. The United States and the Philippine government are working on future EDCA projects at four other locations - Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija province north of Manila, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro province in the southern Philippines, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa in Palawan, and Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu province. In February 2021, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that Duterte had linked the fate of the Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement to "behavior" of Americans toward Fiipinos and said regarding the EDCA, "I think the president wants this to stop... He needs to think about whether to drop EDCA also because that is the legal basis that allows American soldiers and equipment to remain in our country". In 2022, under President Bongbong Marcos, the Department of National Defense announced that they will speed up implementation of the agreement, allowing the assignment of U.S. troops to the country for extended periods and developing new projects at existing and new EDCA locations. In late 2022, the U.S. requested access to five additional locations, one each in Palawan, Zambales and Isabela and two sites in Cagayan. On February 2, 2023, four additional locations of military bases were designated under the EDCA, but the locations were not announced, pending consultations with local officials having jurisdiction over the sites. See also Balikatan Mutual Defense Treaty (United States–Philippines) References External links Full text of "Document: Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement" on Philippine Government's Official Gazette at gov.ph. Q & A on Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement on Philippine Government's Official Gazette at gov.ph. Military alliances involving the Philippines Military alliances involving the United States 2014 in the United States United States military in the Philippines Philippines–United States relations 21st-century military alliances 2014 in the Philippines