Aquino Calls for Orderly Pullout of U.S. Forces

In a dramatic shift of policy, President Corazon Aquino called Monday for an “orderly withdrawal” of U.S. military forces from the Philippines, long considered the strategic center of U.S. defenses in Asia.

Aquino, who previously had refused to commit herself on whether the bases could remain, spoke on national television the night before critical bilateral negotiations began on the future of Clark air base, Subic naval base and four smaller facilities.

Clark and Subic are the oldest and largest U.S. bases in Asia, dating back nearly a century to the American colonial era here. However, rising Philippine nationalism has made the bases an increasingly divisive issue and has brought relations between Manila and Washington to a crossroads.

As the talks opened today, the primary American negotiator said the days of a large U.S. military presence here “are coming to an end.”

“What remains for us to determine is the rate at which this presence will be reduced and the nature of the relationship our two governments wish to pursue during and after this transitional period,” chief U.S. negotiator Richard Armitage told the opening session.

“I believe that even the most ardent opponents of the U.S. presence in your bases would agree that the sudden liquidation of their presence can only be destructive,” he said. “Let us take the time to do it right. Let us be your partners in managing the changes.”

Aquino’s surprise announcement was made after a day of violent anti-base protests on streets near the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy. Hundreds of chanting youths tossed small homemade bombs created from gunpowder and nails, while riot policemen armed with truncheons and shields fired tear gas and charged the crowds. At least 20 people were hurt and another 20 arrested, police said.

Several hundred other protesters tried to march into Clark’s main gate in Angeles City, 50 miles north of Manila, but were blocked by police officers and supporters of the base, including local bar girls. The town’s nightclubs and brothels depend heavily on U.S. troops.

Aquino offered no timetable for withdrawal in her speech. U.S. officials are expected to offer a 10-year phase-out plan, and Aquino’s aides have suggested about five years. The 1947 bases treaty expires next Sept. 16.

But Aquino cited the Philippine Constitution of 1987, which prohibits foreign bases and foreign troops after 1991 unless a Senate-approved treaty or popular vote specifically allows them. Anti-base sentiment is high in the 23-member Senate.

“It is now necessary for our government to work with the United States for arrangements regarding the orderly withdrawal of their forces from our country,” Aquino said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher repeated that the United States wants to retain its military presence in the Philippines.

“We hope that any new agreement will include provisions for a continuing defense relationship, including U.S. access to Philippine military facilities,” he said.

Boucher refused to discuss the U.S. position in the bases talks. He would say only that the talks will “define a new relationship with the Philippines that includes a security dimension.”

Analysts say an end to the U.S. military presence here would represent the most significant security realignment in Asia since the American retreat from Vietnam in 1975. The Pentagon long has insisted that its Philippine bases are key to protecting vital sea lanes in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Subic Bay, about 60 miles northwest of Manila, is the main ship repair and maintenance facility for the U.S. 7th Fleet. Clark is home of the 13th Air Force. In all, about 16,000 U.S. troops, with about 22,000 U.S. dependents and civilian Defense Department employees, are stationed in the Philippines.

The sprawling bases employ 78,000 Filipino workers, making them second only to the government as the nation’s largest source of employment. Pentagon payrolls, spending and aid pump an estimated $1 billion into the Philippine economy, nearly 3% of the gross national product.

Aquino conceded that the U.S. bases are “an influential fact of national life” but took pains to minimize the impact of a withdrawal.

“They are not the heart of our economy, nor the soul of our political well-being,” she said. “Certainly, they do not define our society . . . . They are important, but they are not everything.”

Still, the bases overshadow virtually all other foreign policy and political issues here. Opponents see them as an affront to sovereignty that perpetuates the colonial relationship, while also breeding prostitution and AIDS. They complain that the U.S. Congress cut $96 million from a $481-million compensation package pledged for this year.

“They are the worst part of our national problems and not the solution,” Sen. Wigberto E. Tanada, a leading opponent, said Monday morning.

Armitage, a former assistant defense secretary, arrived Monday afternoon to head the U.S. negotiating team.

U.S. officials have suspended off-base leave and non-essential travel for American troops and dependents at the bases because of increased threats from Communist guerrillas. The insurgents are blamed for killing 10 Americans since October, 1987, and have vowed to step up their attacks unless the bases are closed.

Security for this week’s negotiations is so tight that U.S. and Philippine officials refused to officially confirm until late Monday when or where the talks would begin.

U.S. officials said last week that they are ready to start phasing out the bases, acknowledging for the first time that the reduced Soviet military threat and a shrinking Pentagon budget had lessened the need for a permanent large-scale military presence here.

Aquino, calling the situation a “crucial juncture in our history,” cited some of the same reasoning in her speech.

“In a world where the Cold War has ended, and events in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have altered the traditional geopolitical order, the decades-old parameters of the Philippine-U.S. relationship no longer hold,” she said. “The old cannot continue. The new must now be born. This new relationship shall be the subject of the talks.”

Pentagon officials say adequate facilities can be found at existing bases in the region, including those in Japan, Hawaii, Guam, Tinian and Saipan.