The Philippines Supreme Court has backed a defence pact that will allow the US to base ships and aircraft in the country as part of a strategy to counter increasingly assertive Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea.
Washington and Manila signed a 10-year Enhanced Defence Co-operation Agreement in 2014 as President Barack Obama made his first visit to the south-east Asian nation. But Manila had been prevented from implementing the deal due to a legal challenge which argued that the pact infringed the nation’s sovereignty.
The Philippines Supreme Court ruled 10:4 on Tuesday that the defence agreement did not violate the country’s constitution.
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