[JPX2011]

Finalized details were not announced but Philippines offered Clark and Subic along with a couple of locations on Palawan.

[rottndog]

Gee....I wonder how much money the PI agreed to pay the US for defending it....

[pepsionice]

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but the Philippines is in the middle of a re-utilization plan for both Clark and Subic Bay. There might be a hanger or two still around for US use, but I think this is simply a runway usage or bay usage deal....with US money pouring in for some renovation deal. They may miss the massive amount of money that the US poured into the country back in the 1970s and 1980s...but nothing is going back to that status.

[Edison]

Having visited the Palawan islands I’d volunteer for that duty. Beautiful water, great diving. I wondered if any PT boats were stationed there in the numerous hidden coves.

[Bobalu]

I say leave the unappreciative assholes to fend for themselves!

At the very least make them PAY to have US back!

[AlmaKing]

What happened to all those folks who wanted us out? Afraid now of the latest Qing Dynasty?

[ASA Vet]

PI_ng

[Mariner]

Clark and Subic are both strategic assets.

Aircraft in Clark can cover the entire South China Sea with strike capability.

[MichaelCorleone]

What USA companies will benefit from this new development (new to me anyway)? Not just the Lockheeds, the Grummans or Boeing, but I bet some smaller, less well known companies needed to ‘set up shop’ and maintain these facilities.

I bet Grandpa Warren and the rest of the crony capitalists already have a position in most of these companies.

[knarf]

pingski

[major_gaff]

Guess I have to re-up now, so I can get back to Cubi Point.

[Seattle Conservative]

WVK - you might be interested in this

[Koracan]

U.S., Philippines agree on five base locations under defense deal

I wonder where most of the money is coming from (US military pork barrel spending)?

poorest countries, world
1. Congo....... $400
........
57. Nicaragua....$4,500
58. Philippines..$4,700

Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)
...agreed on the first five locations to begin implementing EDCA. The locations are: Antonio Bautista Air Base; Basa Air Base, Fort Magsaysay; Lumbia Air Base; and Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base.
..... According to Reuters, Major-General Raul de Rosario, military chief of plans, unveiled 2013 that 998 billion pesos ($22.11 billion) has been approved by the government until 2028...
... it is important to put them in broader perspective because it can otherwise mislead some.... it seeks to increase the Philippine military’s ability to counter not only internal threats, but a range of external threats in a more decisive manner. Like other nations, this includes – but is not limited to – China.

[MasterGunner01]

Well, it was the Philippine Senate that killed the U.S. basing at Subic Bay and Mt. Pinatubo that buried Clark AFB under tons of volcanic ash. The Philippines kept raising the leasing fees for these bases (and after Clark AFB was rendered non-usable), The United States refused to pay and decided to move out because the costs were too much for Subic Bay alone. The Philippines terminated the basing agreements in 1991 and U.S. forces were out by the end of 1992. This blindness on the part of the Philippine government cost the Philippines millions in lease fees and put 80,000 Filipinos out of work. A great move by the politicians.

Now the same politicians who threw the U.S. out, want us back? As far as I know there's nothing to return to at Clark AFB because the locals have stripped it of everything usable. Who knows what condition Subic Bay NavSta and Cubi Point NAS are in? There would have to be some very serious offset arrangements if the U.S. were to set up bases in the P.I. now.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

“...never been closer” ?

[armydawg505]

Running the Americans out once again proved to be a bad mistake some years ago. Of course, the peace dividend meant there would never be any more war. It always happens that way.

[blueunicorn6]

My parents taught me that to waste something was wrong. My Father had seen the hungry children in Korea during the war and oftentimes reminded me that they would have been very happy to have the food that I was wasting by not eating it.

He also told me that when he was a boy on the farm that they used “everything but the squeal” when they butchered a hog.

It is this desire to see things not wasted that causes me to be so frustrated with The Philippines.

They couldn’t wait to run us out of their islands.

Now, they want us back.

It would have been much less wasteful if the people of The Philippines had allowed us to stay there.

It will cost us a lot of money to open up military facilities there.

I have no illusions about the Chinese and their goals. The people of The Philippines are wise to be wary of China.

But, there should be a cost for being stupid and wasteful.

The people of The Philippines should bear the cost of this stupidity and wastefulness, not the American Taxpayers.

If they want us back, then they pay fully to bring us back.

“Waste not, get destroyed not.”

[microgood]

The Navy desperately needs Subic. Guam just gets hammered with typhoons and ours ships have no protection there.

[ought-six]

The PI kicked us out and now when they feel threatened they beg us to come back. Seriously.

[jstaff]

Last I heard Clark was pretty well unusable due to being covered by up to 2’ of ash from Mt Pinatubo. Might be interesting to go back and see what is uncovered if they do accept it.

[wildbill]

They demanded that we leave, abandoning the bases that had been built since 1898 and then reconstructed after we liberated the PI from the Japanese in WW2.

I say no return unless they rebuild to our specs and pay us for extending our protection to them once again;