Filipino Senate Passes Bill Viewed as Threat to Bases

The Philippines Senate approved an anti-nuclear bill today that U.S. officials warned could lead to the dismantling of strategic U.S. military bases in the former American colony.

The Senate bill, approved by a 19-3 vote with one abstention, bars the “development, manufacture, acquisition, testing, use, introduction, installation or storage” of nuclear arms and components.

Nuclear-powered ships and planes are prohibited from the country under the bill unless their entry is authorized by a Philippines commission after an inspection.

The vote was taken as Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos and President Corazon Aquino’s national security adviser, Emmanuel Soriano, opposed the passage of a similar bill in the lower house during a public hearing.

Ramos said the presence of nuclear weapons does not pose a threat to the nation’s security, saying the danger comes from Communist insurgents and Muslim separatists.

The 200-member House of Representatives must come up with its own version of the bill implementing a provision in the new constitution banning nuclear weapons in the Philippines, making it unlikely that a law on the subject will be passed before the bicameral Congress adjourns Friday.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman declined comment on today’s vote, but Adm. Ronald Hays, U.S. military commander in the Pacific, last week expressed concern over the anti-nuclear bill. He told Philippine Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus that “nuclear power is an essential part of American strategy.”