Not our war, Mr. President

MR. President, can you run a country in war?

Filipinos should be asking this to the 17th in the light of the announcement by the US Department of Defense last April 3 on the expanded Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) to include four new sites: Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor F. de la Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan. The reason given by Malacañang is to "boost the disaster response of the country, as the locations will also be used for humanitarian and relief operations during emergencies and natural disasters." Another euphemism being invoked is that the camps will only be for "storage and warehouse facilities for military logistics."