American presence

By Zhu Ning in Manila Source:Global Times Published: 2014-1-16 0:53:01

A Filipino health worker sticks an anti-US troops slogan in front of the US Embassy in Manila on October 9, 2013 to protest the signing of a possible agreement allowing US military bases in the Philippines. Photo: CFP

A Filipino health worker sticks an anti-US troops slogan in front of the US Embassy in Manila on October 9, 2013 to protest the signing of a possible agreement allowing US military bases in the Philippines. Photo: CFP

On November 8 Super Typhoon Haiyan, reportedly the world's strongest typhoon in history, swept through the central Philippines and destroyed entire towns across the nation's central islands.

Five weeks later the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council put the official death toll at 6,009, with nearly 2,000 people  remaining missing, according to AFP.

While the devastated people are still suffering the consequences of the storm and rebuilding their damaged homes, the typhoon aftermath has reached further than the Philippines.

The Philippines and the United States have been negotiating a new security agreement that will allow increased rotational presence of US troops and wider, more prolonged access to bases and other facilities in the Philippines. It also provides for storage of equipment and supplies for both humanitarian and maritime operations.

Before Haiyan made landfall, the negotiations had just reached to an impasse.

Soon after the typhoon hit its treaty ally, the United States sent the USS George Washington aircraft carrier along with 50 other ships and aircraft to the disaster zone for the relief effort.

In late November, Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said at a press conference that the US' emergency relief effort had made a strong case for the two countries to achieve an early conclusion of the new military accord.

"What has been demonstrated in the central Philippines as a result of this typhoon and the assistance provided in terms of relief, rescue operation ... is the need for this framework agreement that we are working on with the United States," Rosario said.

New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith said after meeting Rosario that the storm "has brought all of us even closer together."

There have been five rounds of talks on the agreement so far.

The two sides are divided in "critical provisions," and Philippines Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin admitted that one key issue lies in the access of Filipino troops to temporary US facilities.

However, while the Philippines is eager to have the US back, two decades ago it was Manila itself that ended the American presence in the country.

'China threat'

The Philippines once hosted tens of thousands of US soldiers at two bases near Manila, but they were forced to leave in 1992 after the Philippine Senate voted to end their lease contracts amid strong anti-American sentiment. Back then, the country was under the reign of Corazon Aquino, mother of current President Benigno Aquino III.

Then a new accord in 1999 allowed US troops to return to the Philippines for joint military exercises every year. These include around 600 troops in the southern Philippines.

In August last year, Manila announced that it would begin negotiations with the US on the rotational presence of US troops, and analysts say this was intended to deter the so-called threat from China, with which the Philippines has been embroiled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Roy Sinfuego, a senior Philippine journalist on diplomacy, told the Global Times that Aquino's move to restore the presence of American forces in the strategic areas of the Philippines could be a "bluff" to counter China.

The Philippine military chief said Wednesday that the country wants to acquire two more navy ships from the US to boost its maritime protection.

"I think the Philippine government under President Aquino has a very paranoid attitude toward national defense and sovereignty, possibly thinking that a rising, more powerful China might act like the Western powers of the past and might seek territorial expansion and more actual resources," Wilson Lee, a columnist of The Philippine Star newspaper, told the Global Times.

Sovereignty or security?

There have been concerns that an expanded US military presence in the Philippines will make the former US colony a large military base, threatening the country's national security.

Soon after the initiation of the negotiations was announced, militant group Bayan demanded the government  disclose details about ongoing negotiations, according to The Philippine Star.

"From what we are hearing, it seems that the entire Philippine archipelago will be open to US troops and warships. US troops will not just be limited to Subic and Clark. They can access any Philippine facility and station their troops there," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said.

The group said earlier that the agreement violates the Philippine Constitution as the charter prohibits a permanent foreign basing in the country, according to the newspaper.

There are also suspicions as to whether the US truly intends to help the Philippines in the case of conflict.

"I believe the Americans do not want to be dragged into any military conflict in the Philippines due to a general widespread American fatigue with costly overseas wars like Iraq and Afghanistan," Lee said. "Perhaps the Philippines is just a convenient strategic ally in Asia for the US to use in hopes of people in America to contain the economic, diplomatic and military rise of China," he added.

Unhindered support

Despite the doubts about the US military's return to the Philippines, more Filipinos have a belief that the enhanced presence of the US will provide the country with more security than problems.

A survey on the US global image by the Pew Research Center in July 2013 showed that about 85 percent of Filipinos surveyed see the US favorably, topping the list, Time reported.

"Don't forget how much people in the Philippines love the US," said Richard Heydarian, a Manila-based foreign affairs and economic analyst, when asked by the Global Times whether Filipinos will worry about their country's security once the basing agreement is signed.

"I personally believe it's good. It would help modernize the Philippine military in terms of orientation and cultural exchange. There might be a few bad consequences, however, the good outweigh the bad," Albright Dy, a Philippine white-collar worker, told the Global Times.

Agencies contributed to this story

Posted in: Asia in Focus

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