Filipino rescue workers aboard a rubber raft conduct a search drill as the US Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald docks behind them at the Alava Pier in Subic Bay Freeport yesterday.
MANILA: The Philippines said yesterday it was looking to give the US and Japan greater access to its military bases, as it seeks to counter what it perceives as a rising security threat from China.
The government is drafting a plan that would allow US forces to spend more time on Filipino bases, something that could also be offered to Japan’s military later, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said. “If and when there is agreement on the access, then there will be equipment coming in from the (United) States,” Gazmin told a joint news conference after meeting visiting Japan Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera. “We welcome other countries, particularly Japan since it is a strategic partner, in accordance with our protocols.”
President Benigno Aquino had said the Philippines would welcome an increased US military presence amid disputes with China over claims to parts of the South China Sea.
However, Gazmin’s comments indicated the Philippines was hoping to expand on standard military exercises the two nations regularly engage in. “Modalities for the increased rotational presence are right being examined. One modality is the conduct of high-value, high-impact exercise,” Gazmin said.
However, he emphasised the plan would not see any new bases or a permanent US presence in the Philippines.
The US had tens of thousands of troops in the Philippines, at the Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base north of Manila until the early 1990s. The US, a former colonial ruler of the Philippines, was forced to abandon the bases amid anti-US sentiment and a row over rent. The constitution bans any permanent foreign bases in the Philippines.
However, the Clark and Subic facilities, partly converted to business use, host and service US military aircraft and warships on short-term exercises.
A US destroyer joined the Philippine Navy’s flagship for war games that started yesterday close to a flashpoint area of the South China Sea, adding to tensions with China over rival territorial claims.
The exercises are a boost for the Philippines’ poorly equipped military as it struggles with perceived rising Chinese aggression, and follows repeated pleas to longtime ally the US for protection.
“The goal of these exercises is to further boost cooperation... between the two armed forces and streamline responses to counter-terrorism and maritime security,” deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
The six-day exercises are an annual event but this year planned for the west coast of the main island of Luzon, close to Scarborough Shoal China insists it owns. The shoal is a tiny set of rocks and islets in the South China Sea 230km east of Luzon and 1,200km from the nearest major Chinese landmass.
China claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea, even waters close to the shores of its smaller neighbours.
Tensions between China and other claimants to the sea, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, have escalated in recent years amid Chinese political and military actions to assert its claims to the waters.
The Philippines says China has effectively occupied Scarborough, a rich fishing ground, for more than a year. It says Chinese vessels constantly patrol the waters around the shoal, forcing Filipino fishermen who have sailed there for generations to stay away.
Philippine Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory Fabic said some of the Philippine-US exercises would be held between Luzon island and the shoal.
He said some drills would be 108km east of Scarborough in “sea lanes of communication within Philippine territory”.
He stressed the war games were not meant to provoke China.
“While the exercises will be between Scarborough and the main island of Luzon, the focus is on inter-operability and not targeted against the Chinese.”
Gazmin said the government was looking at more “high value, high impact” exercises with the US. Onodera and Gazmin agreed an increased US military presence in the region would serve to blunt China’s influence.
“Both sides agreed that the US presence is (a) very important public asset in East Asia,” Onodera said.
The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises which began yesterday involve three US Navy vessels, including the USS Fitzgerald, a guided missile destroyer, according to the Philippine Navy.
The Philippines will deploy its flagship, a former US coastguard cutter called the Gregorio del Pilar, as well as other navy and coastguard vessels.
About 500 US forces and another 500 Filipino troops are taking part in the exercises.
Several hundred US Special Forces troops have also been rotating through the southern Philippines since early 2002 to train Filipino soldiers who are fighting Islamic militants.
Fabic said among the highlights was an exercise designed to intercept suspected enemy ships, board them and seize materials they may be carrying that could pose a danger to allies. There will also be simulated counter-terrorism exercises, training in disaster response and increasing proficiency in naval gunnery, he added. Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the South China Sea. Agencies
