Did the Filipinos kick us out of Subic Bay, or did we abandon it after a volcanic (Mt. Pinatubo?) eruption?
Not exactly. The Filipinos kept raising the rent on our Subic Bay and Clark AFB leases. The U.S. balked at the extortion. Then, in an act of colossal stupidity, their Senate voted to kick the Americans out and not renew the leases.
During negotiations, Mt. Pinatubo blew its top and buried Clark AFB under 15 feet of volcanic ash. When the U.S. got access to the site, they found that the locals had stripped the base of anything useful. It would have been astronomical to rebuild Clark AFB, and everything became moot with the Filipino Senate's vote. This vote cost 80,000 Filipinos very well paying jobs working for the U.S. government, but it was too late. The U.S. packed up and moved to Singapore.
Philippines Orders U.S. to Leave Strategic Navy Base at Subic Bay
Published: December 28, 1991
The Philippines told the United States today that it must withdraw from the Subic Bay naval base by the end of 1992, ending a vast American military presence that began with the capture of the islands from Spain in 1898.
The decision, which resulted from an impasse in negotiations, follows a year of intense talks between the countries on the fate of American bases in the Philippines. The announcement also comes just three days before President Bush begins a 12-day Asian tour.
The shutdown of the sprawling Subic Bay base, together with the closing of Clark Air Base after a volcanic eruption this year, amounts to the biggest reduction to date in the United States military presence in the western Pacific. The 60,000-acre Subic base is the Navy’s principal supply and ship-repair installation in the region. U.S. to Look for New Sites
Although it is theoretically possible that a new agreement could be hammered out, Administration officials in Washington said that they considered this unlikely, and that they would accelerate the pullout and the search for alternative sites in the Pacific.
There is nothing about the volucanic eruption that permanently damaged the harbor.