(UPDATE) THE national security of the Philippines is the paramount concern in putting up additional military sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), not because of the country's proximity to Taiwan, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in an interview on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.

"What if [the country's] proximity to Taiwan is a geographical accident and other people are paranoid about it, it's their problem," Teodoro also said at Lal-lo International Airport in the province of Cagayan where one of the new EDCA sites is located.

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