Xinhua recently reported that the Philippines’ Defense Secretary stated that, even if the United States military won’t be able to be stationed at Subic Bay, the government has decided to rebuild and reopen the military base for its own military. The Subic Bay Base used to be the United States’ largest overseas military base. The U.S. closed and left the Base in 1992. In order to support the activities in the South China Sea, last year the Philippines government signed an agreement with the United States for its temporary use of the Base. The Philippines left-wing political party filed a claim in the Supreme Court charging that the agreement was a violation of the nation’s Constitution. The case is still pending a Supreme Court final ruling. Subic Bay is an ideal location for a naval base. Its location is strategic to the South China Sea region. Currently it is a free port, but the local authorities had an agreement with the domestic military to rebuild part of the military base for the Navy and the Air Force. The Defense Secretary of the Philippines called the nearby Chinese activities “a threat,” and that’s “why the U.S. presence is needed.”
Source: Xinhua, August 15, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-08/15/c_128132224.htm