Manila plans to relocate its navy, air force

Quicker access needed to China-contested sea

MANILA: The Philippines plans to relocate major air force and navy camps to a former US naval base northwest of Manila to gain faster access to waters being contested by China in the South China Sea, according to the country’s defence chief and a confidential government report.

Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said yesterday that as soon as relocation funds are available the government plans to transfer air force and naval forces and their fleets of aircraft and warships to Subic Bay, which has become a busy free port since the 1992 departure of the US navy.

‘‘It’s for the protection of our West Philippine Sea,’’ Mr Gazmin said from South Korea, where he was on a visit, using the name adopted by the Philippine government for the disputed South China Sea. ‘‘We’re looking now for the funding,’’ he said.

Subic Bay is a natural deep harbour that can accommodate the two large warships acquired recently by the Philippines from the United States, a defence treaty ally, he said. This compares to the much shallower harbour at the naval fleet base at Sangley Point in Cavite province, south of Manila.

The first US Coast Guard cutter was relaunched as the Philippines’ largest warship in 2011. President Benigno Aquino III will lead ceremonies on Aug 6 to welcome the second ship at Subic, the Philippine navy said.

A confidential defence department document says Subic’s location will cut reaction time by fighter aircraft to contested South China Sea areas by more than three minutes compared with flying from Clark airfield, also north of Manila, where some air force planes are based.

‘‘It will provide the armed forces of the Philippines strategic location, direct and shorter access to support West Philippine Sea theatre of operations,’’ the document said.

The report said the cost of repairs and improvements for an air force base in Subic would be at least 5.1 billion pesos (3.7 billion baht). It said that compares with an estimated 11 billion pesos that it would cost to build a new air force base, because the vast Subic complex about 80km west of Manila already has a world-class runway and aviation facilities.

Relocating about 250 air force officers and men to Subic, along with ‘‘increased rotational presence of foreign visiting forces’’ would bolster business and trade at the port, the document said.

Subic’s international airport has been underutilised since US courier giant FedEx transferred its lucrative regional hub from Subic to China in 2009, officials said.

The Philippines plans to grant visiting US forces, ships and aircraft temporary access to more of its military camps to allow for a larger number of joint military exercises than are currently staged each year.

A larger US presence could be used for disaster response and serve as a deterrent to what Philippine officials say have been recent aggressive intrusions by China into its waters.

The Philippines has supported Washington’s efforts to reassert its military presence in Asia in order to act as a counterweight to China’s rise.

While it has taken diplomatic steps to deal with China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Philippines has struggled to upgrade its military, one of Asia’s weakest.