Manila on Brink of Rejecting a New Subic Bay Treaty
The Philippine Senate moved Saturday to the brink of rejecting a new treaty to lease Subic Bay Naval Base to the United States, but Washington said it remains optimistic that the accord will be ratified.
The treaty, which allows the United States to keep Subic Bay for another 10 years, was close to defeat after eight senators signed a resolution declaring their opposition. The pact needs 16 votes in the 23-member Senate to be ratified.
“For all intents and purposes, the treaty is dead,” said Sen. Ernesto Maceda, chairman of the Defense Committee and one of the eight who signed the resolution. Eight votes is the minimum required to defeat the treaty.
But U.S. bases panel spokesman Stanley Schrager said in an interview that Washington believes the Senate could still ratify the accord.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” Schrager said. “We remain hopeful that in the end the Senate will ratify the treaty.”
The current lease expires on Sept. 16.
Washington has said that it will start withdrawing its forces from the Philippines if the treaty is not ratified by then, ending almost a century of U.S. military presence in the former American colony.
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