South China Sea tensions have Filipino leaders hoping the US Navy returns to Subic Bay

WaPo, via Stars & Stripes ^ | May 18, 2015 | Will Englund

[Timber Rattler]

Don’t care.

[Timber Rattler]

Don’t care anymore. Let the Red Chinese have it.

[Hot Tabasco]

Don’t care anymore. Let the Red Chinese have it.

Wow, I'm going to let your statement stand as is............Sheesh!

[Randy Larsen]

had a great time in olongapo back in the mid 70’s but when they kicked us out I knew they were making a huge mistake.

We no longer need Subic Bay or any presence in the Phillipines so screw them.

[DeweyCA]

Let Vietnam and the Philippines bid for us. Then we can decide between Subic Bay and Cam Ranh Bay. The country that gives us to best deal for the longest time will get our best consideration.

[OldMissileer]

Any time the U.S. turned a building over to the locals. every thing worth any money was removed and sold. I mean anything: doors, windows, wiring.

I have a good friend who was high up in the rank structure at Clark during the time it was being shut down and during the evacuation. He told me the running joke was the Phils had stolen everything on the base, they had just not figured out how to get it all over the wall.

[SandwicheGuy]

Clark is buried under tons of ash....................

That is not true at all. I drove and flew all over Clark not long ago and it is almost completely cleaned up. I don't know why you would say this.

[SandwicheGuy]

Clark's pretty much done for, but we had nothing to do with it, Pinatubo did. The infrastructure elsewhere constructed over decades has been systematically looted right down to the copper wires. There just isn't all that much to come back to.

To the contrary, all that stuff that was looted was 25 year old technology, all the infrastructure is still there. Good plumbing, good electricity, lots of structures, plenty of land, and TA-DA, two freaking great runways that can land the erstwhile space shuttle, at least two flight schools, and five or six airlines flying out of there, mostly to Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong. I would like to invest there but the laws for foreigners discourage that.

[antidisestablishment]

Yeah, I agree. I would much rather spend billions in a nice American-loving place like Qatar.

[Red Badger]

The last pics I saw it was covered in ash. I suppose they have cleaned it up since then...................

[SandwicheGuy]

Seeing as how that pic of an ash covered Clark was taken twenty-five years ago, I can understand your confusion. A lot can happen in six months, never mind a few years. There is no trace of an eruption today, or there is, but you have to really look.It is a thriving Economic Zone now.

[Red Badger]

Well, I guess I made an ash of myself!.....!!!!

[SandwicheGuy]

Don’t worry, you are not alone /grin. Anyway, you redeemed yourself with that nice quip!