Posted on 11/13/2015 11:19:55 AM PST by QT3.14
When this Philippine coastal town rid itself two decades ago of a giant US naval base, it wanted to shake off a colonial past and reject the “ugly Americans.†Yet today the town is once again welcoming American military personnel and viewing the US as a vanguard against an increasingly pushy China. The US Navy began using the base in Subic Bay last year to deliver materiel and personnel for annual joint military exercises. Some 6,000 US personnel came to Subic in April, and are set to return for exercises in 2016 in agreement with Philippine authorities, according to a Western diplomat. US ships are using Subic Bay as a resupply port during routine calls, and two towering merchant marine ships flying American flags were docked here in late October.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“I love you long time, sailuh”
I’m sort of not giving a damn about the Philippines after their surly ejection of the military from Clark and Subic. Let them take care of themselves, bind themselves by treaty or contract.
Trying to separate Philippine hookers from servicemen with money to burn will turn out interesting.
they miss the money
So sorry. They numbah ten.
South Korea is building a 20-ship naval base
500 km from China. US warships will have
berthing rights there. Things are rumbling
in the Orient.
Ahh.... liberty in Olongapo during the ‘70’s..... no one who wasn’t there would believe it.
I think the Philippines government was shocked when the Americans left when they were told. They were just trying to negotiate a more lucrative treaty. They didn’t expect their bluff to be called.
It didn’t help the Filipinos that the volcano significantly impaired the airbase at a critical point in the process.
I’ve often been told I enjoyed myself greatly there.....
If things keep going like they are now, pretty soon we won’t have any warships to berth there.
No, historically what started the public opinion against the US was an organized campaign among the Manila left-wing political elite. The Mayor of Olongapo knew perfectly well what would happen when the Navy left despite the pious promises from Manila that the place would be turned into a merchant refit port for...yep, you guessed it, the Chinese, who ended up unwilling to pay what the U.S. Navy was paying for those facilities because they had their own workers at two bucks a day. None of this was the fault of the Subic locals, and it's historical revisionism of the first order to blame them.
I resent the speaker's clear implication that the U.S. military consists of animals who must remain safely caged. I resented it when it came from the Manila papers and I resent it now.
I was there a few times in the late ‘60’s as a young sailor aboard DLG-34. She was a beautiful ship.
I recall that the overthrow of Marcos, a rape case, and the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo [sp] were factors in the U.S. pull-out three decades ago.
We need a presence there.
Magsaysay street
San Miguel Beer
Mojos
S@#$%hit River Queens
Ah..... memories....
We don't deploy our forces overseas in other lands in the interest of those other nations. We do so because of our own self interests. Same for foreign aid. At least when considered and done properly.
I only crossed the bridge one time and after walking around for about 30 minutes ran back to base to never leave again.
Good heavens you are resolute!
Yeah, while the runways and parking aprons at Clarke could have been cleared of volcanic ash with some effort, once the hangers and other buildings began collapsing from wet ash loads, the base was essentially a write off.
Post-departure looting also trashed a lot of the less valuable facilities at
Subic. Believe the shipyard and maintenance shops are still operational.
I was too young to be there but I heard San Miguel was good beer.
Wasn’t there a beer that was rumored to have formaldehyde in it?
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