A New Lease on Life : U.S.-Philippine relations seek to rise from the ashes

The U.S. decision to abandon Clark Air Base marks a new chapter in the bittersweet relationship between the Philippines and the United States.

The U.S. Defense Department was correct in its assessment that budget constraints and possible new eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo made restoration of volcano-ravaged Clark, at a cost of more than $500 million, wholly impractical.

Many Filipinos have long resented the vast U.S. military presence in the Philippines, seeing the U.S. bases as an incursion on their national sovereignty. The military, they believed, personified American paternalism toward its former Pacific colony. Now the destructive eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo have expedited the U.S. departure--but the adjustments will be painful for the Philippine people.

The agreement to leave Clark by 1992 is part of a new base lease hammered out between Washington and Manila after a year of contentious negotiations. Under the new agreement, the United States will operate out of the sprawling Subic Bay Naval Base for 10 more years. It will compensate the Philippines $203 million annually for the use of Subic, a critical staging area and repair depot for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The United States will also return four smaller facilities to the Philippines by Sept. 16, when the current leases expire.

The six facilities had been costing the United States a total of $481 million a year. Before the volcano spewed tons of ash on Clark and prompted the evacuation of both Clark and Subic, the Philippine government was negotiating for $825 million a year for U.S. use of the six facilities.

The agreement is subject to approval by the Philippine Senate. The Philippine economy is heavily dependent on the U.S. bases. U.S. military facilities contributed $1 billion a year to the local economy, directly employing 42,300 Filipinos and indirectly generating more than 400,000 jobs. Residents around the 88-year-old Clark base will be particularly hard hit.

The U.S.-Philippine military relationship is fading--but the Philippines may find breaking up hard to do.