America’s Return to the Philippines Makes Sense

By Fletcher Dean Emeritus James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander of NATO

A new agreement to allow the US access to more military bases will help counter China’s influence and stabilize the region. 

When I was a junior officer in the Navy during the Cold War, I spent a great deal of time in the Western Pacific. I regularly pulled into Subic Bay Naval Station and its associated Cubi Point Naval Air Station — which, along with the even larger Clark Air Force Base to the north, made the Philippines the US military’s central hub in the Pacific. Thousands of Philippine citizens served in the US Navy, and we felt a strong bond with the country.

At the same time, when I got off the bases — walking the crowded streets of Manila, say, or taking a break in the beautiful highlands near Baguio — I could sense the ambivalence about our presence. More than 30 years ago, the US was asked to leave its former colony, and we departed with regret.

Last week, both nations announced that the US would again have significant access to additional military sites in the Philippines, this time in the northern part of the country on the large island on Luzon. It is a decision that will have considerable strategic, operational and diplomatic impact over the coming decades — especially, as my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Hal Brands notes, when it comes to the US relationship with China.

First, it is important to note the US is not re-creating the vast naval and air bases of the past. The arrangement, worked out by Department of Defense, the State Department and their counterparts in the Philippines, will merely build on current agreements and grant access to four crucial additional sites within the country. 

The location, in the far north on Luzon, is significant. A glance at a map shows the new logistics hubs will “fill in” the great arc around the contested South China Sea, stretching from the Japanese home islands, through the Philippines, and then south to significant bases in northern Australia. Equally important, the location is just to the southwest of Taiwan, providing the US with significantly enhanced ability to organize and coordinate logistics, ammunition, fuel, surveillance and command-and-control. 

Meanwhile, in Guam — a US territory — the US Marine Corps is building its first new base in 70 years, Camp Blaz, named after a heroic son of the territory.  The combination of base access in the Philippines with a muscular Marine base in Guam is a sea change in America’s presence.

Finally, the access agreement is a significant diplomatic success for the US. Under the previous Philippine president, the mercurial Rodrigo Duterte, the nation leaned toward China on many issues.  But with President Bongbong Marcos, the son of former dictator Fernand Marcos, the Philippines is more attentive to the long-term danger of Chinese territorial claims in their front yard, the South China Sea.

The new access agreement is a very strong signal to Beijing that the Philippines will remain fiercely independent and will develop the geopolitical relationships needed (not only with the US, but with a militarily resurgent Japan) to contest the region. And the Philippine military will receive enhanced training, equipment and engagement with the US military.

China is watching closely, and last week’s balloon excursion over the US may indeed have been a response to the basing agreement with the Philippines and the new US base in Guam.  The timing would certainly suggest that, but whether China intended such a public incident (especially days before a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken) is difficult to prove.

What can be said with certainty is that the US is strengthening alliances and relationships with old friends such as the Philippines, staunch post-World War II allies such as Japan and South Korea, and traditional partners such as Australia. To say that all of this is landing like a lead balloon in Beijing is a cheap pun. But for those of us who have spent time in the Philippine Islands, and appreciate America’s historical relationship with the country, this agreement comes as welcome news indeed.

This piece is republished from Bloomberg.