A Wary Philippines Is Turning To the U.S.
SUBIC BAY, the Philippines — For years, the Philippines largely stood by as Chinese forces rammed its fishing vessels and occupied the reefs and shoals that once belonged to the Southeast Asian nation.
Those days may soon be over.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June, has adopted the most muscular foreign policy approach in the Philippines in close to a decade. He is seeking out alliances, restoring defense ties with the United States and prioritizing his country’s territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Last month, Mr. Marcos granted the United States military access to four new defense sites in the Philippines. The same day, Washington said it would restart its joint patrols of the South China Sea with the Philippines, which had been suspended by Manila for six years. There is speculation that Subic Bay, a crown jewel among the many naval sites in the Philippines, will also welcome American soldiers in the coming months.
Mr. Marcos’s decisions have been driven by the dispute over the South China Sea. But he has also shared concerns about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, saying that “it’s very hard to imagine a scenario where the Philippines will not somehow get involved.”
Last month, Mr. Marcos summoned the Chinese ambassador after a Chinese vessel directed a military-grade laser at a Philippine ship, the first time in years that a president had lodged such a protest.
The Philippines’ northernmost inhabited island, Itbayat, is just 150 kilometers from Taiwan. The United States and the Philippines have not disclosed the four sites that the Americans will gain access to, but three are facing Taiwan and one is bordering the South China Sea, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Manila could grant the United States access to additional sites, including Subic Bay, in the coming months, despite anger from China. Subic Bay is one of the most strategic deepwater ports in Asia, with direct access to the South China Sea and the Bashi Channel, a waterway separating Taiwan and the Philippines.
Philippines officials hope that strengthening alliances and staging joint exercises with the United States, Japan and South Korea will help modernize the country’s military and reinforce its independence.
Last month, Mr. Marcos agreed to increase economic and defense cooperation with Japan, and the Philippines said it would work with the United Kingdom on maritime law enforcement.
The U.S. military was unceremoniously kicked out of the Philippines in 1992 after widespread nationalist protests. The imminent reintroduction of U.S. soldiers has elicited some outrage.
Cagayan and Isabela are two provinces where the United States has most likely been granted access to military sites. Both provinces face Taiwan, adding to local anxiety over getting caught between two superpowers.
Manuel Mamba, the governor of Cagayan, said he feared that the U.S. access would make Cagayan “a magnet for a nuclear attack.”
“The people of Cagayan will get caught in the middle” of a conflict between the U.S. and China, he said. “Why should we fight their battles?”
But polls show that nine out of 10 Filipinos want the government to assert its rights over the South China Sea, and a survey in December showed that 84 percent of Filipinos chose the United States over China as a security partner.
Outside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, a plaque commemorates November 24, 1992, the date the Americans left. It reads: “We threw off the blinds that had entrapped us.”
That same year, China passed a law laying claim to all the disputed islands in the South China Sea and the waters surrounding them.
“If the U.S. didn’t leave Subic, then China wouldn’t have the islands in the West Philippine Sea,” said Norberto Montibon, 63, a security guard at Subic Bay, using the official government name for disputed waters in the South China Sea.