The Philippines and US plan to use four new sites established under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement as evacuation points for overseas Filipino workers in the event of conflicts. The move follows comments by the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, who advised the Philippine government not to give the US access rights to Armed Forces of the Philippines bases if it values the welfare of the 150,000 Filipinos working abroad.

The four new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the Philippines, which are being jointly established by the Philippines and US governments, will be used as evacuation sites for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should future conflicts occur, according to Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr., officer in charge of the Department of National Defense. The acting defense chief has previously said the additional EDCA locations will be used to respond to contingencies. Tension is currently high between China and the US over Taiwan’s sovereignty, with the two countries making competing claims over the country. Earlier this month, the Philippine government announced the establishment of four additional EDCA sites in the country, with the US increasing funding for construction to $100m from $82m.