Philippines: Pimentel Doubts There Are US Bases in RP

PIMENTEL DOUBTS REPORT ON ALLEGED EXISTENCE OF US
MILITARY BASES IN RP

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said he does not think that the
United States has set up military bases in the
Philippines since the US can maintain its military
presence in the country through the Visiting Forces
Agreement.

Pimentel made the statement in the face of a report by
the Bangkok-based international think tank, Focus on
the Global South, that the US is maintaining “secret
bases” in the country, pointing to Subic, in Zambales,
Clark in Pampanga, Mactan in Cebu and General Santos
City in South Cotabato as their possible locations.

“As far as I know, there are no US military – secret
or open – in the Philippines. The US does not need
bases here. With the Visiting Forces Agreement, they
have enough presence in the country for their security
needs,” he said.

Focus on Global South, a policy research organization
based at the Chulalongkorn University in Thailand,
said the alleged bases in the country are listed in
the US Overseas Basing Commission as “cooperative
security locations” (CSL).

In asserting that the US does not need military bases
in the country, Pimentel said the US and the
Philippines forged the VFA as a substitute to the
American military bases which were dismantled in 1992
after the Philippine Senate rejected a treaty that
would extend the Military Bases Agreement for 10 years
more.