American bases in the Philippines

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33944, 10 September 1975, Page 16

American bases in the Philippines

There is more than rent for the American bases in the Philippines at stake in the talks which have begun between the Americans and the Filipinos. Sovereignty — now vested in the United States under an agreement which will expire in 1984 —is the question likely to receive most attention, but the talks will become part of the general reassessment all countries in South-East Asia, Asia, and the Pacific are making since the American withdrawal from Indo-China. Before the talks the Filipinos must ask themselves whether the Clark air base and the Subic Bay naval base serve the interests of the Philippines. Would the presence of United States forces dissuade an aggressor from attacking the Philippines? Or would they be more likely to provoke attacks? If the Philippines were attacked would the United States respond immediately, or wait for the approval of Congress with results similar to those in IndoChina? Are the American bases likely to be the focus for Filipino insurgency? President Marcos of the Philippines posed some of the issues in a speech this year: “. . . I do ask . . . whether the bases have not outlived their usefulness ... I do ask whether our mutual defence treaty in the light of Indo-China has not become a dead letter serving no function, yet productive of suspicions amongst our people and amongst Asians." President Marcos was intent on preserving good relations with the United States, but the questions he asked mean that the Philippines has gone a long way from the former almost automatic approval of American foreign policy. The country established diplomatic relations with China this year and is seeking closer identification with the Third World. It probably wants the Americans to remain in the Philippines but would like South-East Asian neighbours to want them there too. Big Power rivalry and the Chinese-Soviet split are also issues. The Americans want to stay in the area to exert influence; the Chinese want the Americans to stay lest the Russians come to dominate, creating a threat to China in the south as well as in the north. More indignant than amused, the Filipinos recently denied a report that the Chinese had offered to take over Subic Bay and Clark if the Americans left.