US and Philippine officials have confirmed that Subic Bay,
once home to the 7th Fleet and the site of the United States' largest overseas
naval base, is to host US personnel on a semi-permanent basis.
The Philippines'
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that a rotational deployment of US
forces had been ongoing since 2011. "President [Benigno] Aquino has
authorised this, as have both houses of Congress, and it is a move widely
popular with the Philippine people," said DFA Visiting Forces Agreement
Director Edilberto Adan, a retired general and former chief of staff of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
"The US
will not return to the bases they gave up in 1991, but they will be here
regularly and are welcome here," said Adan. He added the resultant
increase in joint military exercises would have an effect beyond better
interoperability and improvements in AFP doctrine and equipment. "It
improves our security and, to be honest, gives people in Southeast
Asia peace of mind."
Subic Bay's port facilities
were built during the Cold War to handle the anchorage requirements for the US
Western Pacific fleet. The US
left the naval base in 1992.
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