MANILA, Sept. 4 -- The
U.S. Marines plan to set up an "advance command post" on the western
Philippine island of Palawan that faces the South China Sea, a senior
Philippine marine officer told Kyodo News Tuesday.
"The plan is to station
50 to 60 American marines in Palawan as an advance command post in the
region," said the officer privy to the plan.
Palawan is an island
province closest to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea
being claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines,
Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
According to the officer,
the plan includes converting a 246-hectare Philippine Marine Corps
reservation in Samariniana town in Brooke's Point, in southeastern
Palawan, into a joint marine operational command.
The officer said the 1.1
kilometer airstrip inside the reservation will be extended to 2.4 km to
accommodate big U.S. military transport planes.
Construction work will
begin in September in time for the annual Philippine-U.S. amphibious
landing exercise in Palawan, he said.
"U.S. Marines will hire
Filipino contractors to do the works because it will be costly if they
bring their equipment over," he said.
More buildings will also be erected there, the officer said.
Aside from Samariniana,
the source said the U.S. military is also looking at developing joint
"operational bases" in other parts of Palawan, including Oyster Bay,
Ulugan Bay, Macarascas town, Puerto Princesa City, Tarumpitao Point in
Rizal and San Vicente town.
Palawan is just one of
the areas identified both by Manila and Washington where U.S. Marines
will train in a rotating deployment, the officer said.
He said that several
military facilities in the Philippine main island of Luzon and Mindanao
island in southern Philippines have also been "opened for access" for
U.S. troops.
"These are choke points.
These are very strategically located areas that can be used by both the
U.S. and the Philippine forces," he said, adding that Americans can
berth their warships and park their planes in the Philippines for
"servicing and maintenance."
"The officer said the
airstrip in Balabac, the southernmost island in the Palawan archipelago
that was used by U.S. forces during World War ll, will also be restored
and improved.
Another source said the Philippine military offered Palawan to Lt. Gen. Duane Thiessen, commanding general of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, during his visit to Palawan last April to attend the joint U.S.-Philippine war games.
Diplomatic and military
sources said the United States specifically wants more access to
Philippine airfields and ports for "servicing and maintenance" including
refueling and repair of U.S. aircraft and ships.
These areas include
military facilities in the former U.S. military bases Clark in Pampanga
and Subic Bay in Olongapo, Poro Point in La Union, Sangley Point in
Cavite, Laoag City on Luzon Island and Zamboanga on Mindanao, sources
said.
Also being considered are
similar facilities in Batanes, the northernmost Philippine island
province closest to Taiwan, General Santos City in Mindanao and Cebu
City in the central Philippines.
The sources said the
number of U.S. troops that will be rotated through the Philippines
reportedly hovers between 4,000 and 4,500, including U.S. Marines based
in Okinawa, Japan.
But the sources said that the final size of the U.S. troops and details of the plan are still being finalized.
Philippine and U.S.
officials are mum about the plan to increase the American presence in
the Philippines, a long-time U.S. ally which 20 years ago kicked the
U.S. forces out from their huge naval and air bases in the country.
U.S. Ambassador Harry
Thomas told a business forum last week that "the close partnership we
have with the Philippines, as we work together to advance our shared
interests on regional strategic issues, on security and economic
cooperation, means that the U.S. and the Philippines are writing a new
chapter in our longstanding alliance, and building a relationship for
the coming century, and beyond."
China has territorial
disputes with U.S. allies, including the Philippines, over islands,
shoals, cays and reefs in the South China Sea. It has behaved
assertively in recent years, alarming the Philippines and other
claimants.
The United States has repeatedly said it will not take sides, while urging claimants to resolve the dispute peacefully.
The Philippines' 1987
constitution bans permanent foreign military basing in its soil. But the
U.S. maintains strong security ties with the Philippines through a 1951
mutual defense treaty.
In 1998, Washington and
Manila forged a visiting forces agreement, paving the way for increased
military cooperation under the 1951 treaty.
Under the agreement, the
U.S. has conducted ship visits to Philippine ports and resumed large
combined military exercises with Philippine forces.
Currently, at any one
time since 2002, there are about 600 combined U.S. troops "rotating" in
Zamboanga, mainly providing "counterterrorism assistance and training"
to Philippine soldiers combating Muslim extremists in southern
Philippines.
==Kyodo
Kyodo News
