Philippine Envoy Says No New EDCA Sites Planned as Sabah's Chief Minister Downplays Balabac Militarization Concerns

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said on August 31, 2026 that Manila and Washington are focused on completing work on the nine existing Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites — including the Balabac, Palawan facility roughly 50km from Malaysia's Sabah state — before considering any expansion. 'There's been some talk about other additional sites, but that's still very far off right now,' Romualdez said. 'We want them to finish first the nine that we have already agreed upon.' He cited a proposed $2.5-billion US funding package for Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization and said 'everything that we're doing is for the defense of the Philippines. It is for our own.' The same day, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor told reporters in Kota Kinabalu that the US-backed upgrade of the Balabac base — including a roughly 3km airstrip — was Philippine territory and 'has nothing to do with Malaysia or anyone else,' pushing back on concerns Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin had raised earlier in August about the risk of military 'miscalculation' near Sabah amid intensifying US-China activity in the area.