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MANILA, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Cerberus will acquire for $300 million a debt-laden shipyard in the Philippines at a former U.S. navy base close to the South China Sea, the facility's trustee and two sources with knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday.The fate of the strategically located Subic Bay shipyard has been a national security concern for defence chiefs, with fears it could be taken over by state-run firms from China, with which the Philippines has a long history of mistrust.In 2019, at least eight foreign companies had expressed interest in the shipyard including two...

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and the United States are already in talks to craft a new and more equitable Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and are looking at similar pacts involving Japan and Australia as templates. “We are now in the process of trying to find ways and means to be able to see how we can either come out with something similar perhaps,” Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said at a forum hosted by the think tank Stratbase ADR Institute in Makati City. Romualdez said the talks were looking to resolve sovereignty issues in the 1999...

In recent years, the United States has struggled to persuade the Philippine government and the country’s citizens it is serious about honoring its commitments under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). China has been feeding this growing mistrust, hoping to drive a wedge between the two long-standing allies to the point one or both will move to terminate the treaty. Twenty-seven years ago, the stars and stripes were hauled down for the final time at Naval Base Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, fulfilling the U.S. obligations to withdraw all military forces and vacate all bases after the Philippine...

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...

SUBIC BAY, Philippines—In 1991, after the Philippine Senate voted to close Subic Naval Base—then the largest American overseas military facility—an emotional Sen. Agapito Aquino summed up the popular mood. It was, he said, "the dawn of our nation's birth." Tossing out the Americans from Subic and nearby Clark Air Base, he added, had ended the country's "crippling dependence" on its former colonial overlord. Now, the Philippines wants American forces back in Subic to counter Chinese moves off the Philippine coast. Just west of Subic, Chinese ships have fenced off the Scarborough Shoal, one of the world's richest fishing grounds, which...

With the U.S. moving the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific, commanders are eagerly looking for invitations to park the planes and ships that will be pouring into the region. Travis Tritten at Stars and Stripes reports that the Pentagon has apparently been fanning the old flame of friendship with the Philippines and will be re-opening two bases it left in 1991 — Subic Bay and Clark Air Base. The U.S. had a falling out with the island nation in the early nineties and pulled out of the bases, which were then built-up by a series of private...

OLONGAPO, Philippines - Philippine prosecutors on Tuesday charged four U.S. Marines with rape in what is seen as a test case for a bilateral accord allowing American troops to train here. Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni filed charges of rape against the four Marines before a regional trial court in Olongapo, near the site of the alleged Nov. 1 rape, and sought their arrest and detention without bail. The men, who were on liberty after participating with joint exercises with Filipino forces, are in U.S. Embassy custody. In documents submitted to the court, Jalandoni alleged that Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith raped...

JEDDAH, 25 November 2005 — The alleged rape of the young Filipino woman several weeks ago by a group of drunken US Marines on R&R leave in Subic Bay has raised more questions than it has answered. The main question in my mind is why would any woman in her right mind hook up with a group of six young and, let’s be honest here, horny soldiers in a bar of all places? After news of the rape broke out into the media, the woman’s family was at pains to insist that their daughter was of “boa familia” and was...

Polytechnic University of the Philippines COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION Sta. Mesa, Manila Course Code: RC 204/TA 110 Course Title: Drama and Theatre Arts Course Description: The course is composed of comprehensive discussions of the different theories about theatre in particular level and dramatic arts in general; and a variety of practical techniques and applications. Course Objectives: At the end of the semester, the student is expected to: 1. Know the theories and application involved in theater. 2. Know the elementary concepts of drama and theatre arts. 3. Produce a one-act production applying the theories and concepts of theatre, thereby appreciating the...

U.S. Marines Arrive at Former American Navy Base in Philippines to Take Part in Combat ExercisesSUBIC, Philippines Feb. 15 — A contingent of 700 U.S. Marines disembarked Sunday at the site of a former American naval base to take part in combat exercises intended to help the Philippines fight Muslim and communist insurgencies and guard against terror attacks. About 2,500 Marines from the U.S. base in Okinawa, Japan, will take part in live-fire combat maneuvers called "Balikatan," or "shoulder-to-shoulder," from Feb. 23 to March 7. The rest of the American troops are scheduled to arrive within a week. The Marine...