THE United States and the Philippines have reached an agreement to expand the US military presence in the south-east Asian country.

US forces will gain access to four more military camps in the Philippines, effectively giving them new ground from which they can continue to monitor China’s activities, according to a joint statement by the two countries.

Published today during a visit by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, the statement said that “substantial” progress had been made in projects at five military camps, where US military personnel were earlier granted access by Filipino officials under the Enhanced Defence Co-operation Agreement (EDCA).

Mr Austin met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, who has sought closer ties with Washington since taking office in June.

The statement said: “The EDCA is a key pillar of the US-Philippines alliance, which supports combined training, exercises and interoperability between our forces.

“The addition of these new EDCA locations will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines and respond to other shared challenges.”

No details of the agreement were immediately given, including the location of the four camps where US forces will be allowed to construct barracks, warehouses and hangars.

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have been locked in increasingly tense territorial disputes in the busy and resource-rich South China Sea.

In the past, Washington has deployed warships and fighter and surveillance aircraft on patrols that it says aim to promote freedom of navigation and the rule of law.

The Philippines constitution prohibits the permanent hosting of foreign troops and their involvement in local combat. However, the EDCA defence pact allows visiting US forces to stay indefinitely in designated camps with their military equipment, excluding nuclear weapons.