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Shhh…. are we supposed to know?

Expats, News / by

The topic of my column today is not, as far as I know, a secret. It is, though, something that is not widely known. If I thought that it was something that was being kept secret, I would think it over very seriously before writing about it.

As far as you know, are there any US Military bases in the Philippines? I know, all the bases were closed a decade and a half ago, in 1992, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, the USA closed it’s Military bases in the Philippines in 1992. The two big bases at the time were Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base. There were other smaller bases too, but all of these were closed in 1992 when a nationalist movement in the Philippines forced these bases off Philippine soil. Oh yes, it was all done with a very diplomatic tone, but it really was a forced issue in the background. Why do I also say NO, when asking if all the bases were closed, though? Well, yes, these long time bases were indeed closed, but I didn’t ask if additional bases have been established since that closure.

Almost everybody would say that there are no bases in the Philippines any longer. Technically, that is correct. But, in practice, what they have here now are called CSL’s, or Cooperative Security Locations. The “Worker’s World” has an article on their website about CSL’s in the Philippines. Normally, I don’t put much stock into sources like Worker’s World, it just sounds like some kind of hyper-left leaning organization. The name even brings back memories of communist days of the cold war. That being said, though, the article in question talks about several things that I know to be true, and thus it gives me a little higher opinion on the veracity of the entire article. While I already knew a lot of what is written, there are some new things that I did not know.

Without a doubt in my mind, I can say that the US has a CSL in Zamboanga City. I have been there, and I know a little about the operations there. I have gone on a number of Medical Missions and other such events with US Special Forces who operate out of Zamboanga City. The fact of this place is widely known in the Philippines, yet I don’t believe that many Americans know that such a place exists.

According to Workers World 30,000 to 50,000 US troops are stationed in the Philippines currently, and in constant operation. When I read this, I was shocked. I thought that maybe a maximum of 5,000 US Troops were here in the Philippines at any given time. I would be shocked if these figures were confirmed in any way, because that just seems very high to me. What I do know is that the bulk of US commitments in the Philippines are in Mindanao, where I live, and there are frequent incidents when US Personnel get into hot water around the area for one reason or another. That being said, in general, I am supportive of US forces being here, although I do hope that they follow local customs to the extent that they can, and not be a bad influence with the local people.

Did you know that there was such a large number of US personnel on the ground here? What do you think of it?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hey Bob
    I just read the article, it did mention OIL. Hmm Is it really all about OIL

    Im about as patriotic as anybody I know. But My Government seems to be doing some underhanded stuff all in the name of Anti Terrirosim.

  2. Hi Neal in Ri – Well, I don't necessarily believe in everything that the "Worker's World" says. Plus, at this time, no oil deposits of any significance have ever been discovered in the Philippines anyway. 😆

  3. Like Neal, I feel a great loayalty to the government I hasve served for years, but I get very annoyed at the apparent way "anti terrorism" has become interpreted as almost a license to steal.

    I was a(small) part of the USAF side of the decision to close Clark AB … I was on the USAF Space Command staff and our office, along with many others, prepared 'decision papers' to guide the generals and senior civilians in their final deliberations. In general the US position was that we should keep the existing bases. It's not generally known, perhaps, but there was a great deal of support for renewal of the leasing agreements within the Philippine government.

    However, a couple of less than diplomatic personalties on both sides of the discussion came nto the forefront, statements were exchanged to the effect of "we don't want to be here" and "fine, we don't want you here anyway", the Philippine Senate voted, and that was that … gone forever … or perhaps not.

    Recently I came across public figures that showed US military construction funds, specifically for new buildings, for Zambonga, in the amount of 18 million dollars last fiscal year alone. To put that in perspective that is more thna our new construction budget at many large, well-known AF bases … so something is getting built, that's for sure.

  4. Hi Dave Starr – Interesting information you have there. We talked about the money expenditures while you were visiting here, and the amounts are indeed significant. It will be interesting to watch as things develop and see what comes about.

  5. HHmmmm 18 Million….2 mill for the Mayor, 4 mill for the Governor, 6 mill for Arroyo, 2 mill for the contractor and local police….when all's said and done 🙄 looks like the out house will be completed next week!
    Oopps almost forget 2 mill for the building inspector…gonna have to cancel the running water for now…a little over budget !

  7. Bob,
    I am a long time reader of your columns but this my first time responding to you. I have in the past asked questions of one of your former writers. In reference to the US troops in the RP I can confirm that there are troops there under a request from the government to provide training and support to the AFP. The actual number is not for public knowledge but it is in the range of hundreds not thousands of troops except during multi-national exercises such as the recently concluded Balikatan exercise. Also there is a TV series on Fox News in the US called "war Stories" it is hosted by Oliver North, he had a episode titled "Terror in Paradise" which documented the US forces in several location in the RP so the fact we are there is not a secret. I have also been to the same locations as he was. Thank you for you column and I will keep reading it. Also as a side note I am engaged to someone from Davao and have been there several times, and in fact I am thinking of moving there to live.

  8. Hi Steve – Thanks for sharing the information. it sounds like you have some knowledge about the subject. Yes, the numbers of personnel that you mention are much closer to what I thought than the article said, and frankly, I don't have full trust in that source anyway. I think they do point out some true things, but go a little overboard on some topics too.

    Thanks again, and also thank you for finally leaving a comment! I hope you will be a regular contributor! 😀

  9. Yes Bob I did know that they were there- (-: The number of 35,000 is not correct your number is even high. However there are times when the numbers increase for exercises and when visiting ships are there. For instance just recently a Guided Misslle Cruiser was in CDO. I am glad you wrote about this. I find it interesting that people are suprised to read that our troops are there. We have troops all over the world and having spent 30 years in the Marine Corps I don't ever recall searching for oil. I currently live near Ft. Leavenworth and I was in the commissary last week and saw a Filipino officer shopping-so cooperation continues. Good article as usual. Thanks once again. Ron

  10. im positive that locals know that there are US soldiers in mindanao. as long as they keep up with the news, its hard to avoid the fact.

    i live an ocean away and i know this.

    its been regularly reported, from clinics & outreach programs, to tensions (chopper crash in visayas & you even wrote about the handgun incident), to balikatan, training & supprt exercises.

    what i think is not understood well is the definition of "bases". when you ask a typical man on the street about US bases, modern facilities like subic, clark & camp john hay come to mind.

    as you know, things have been done to go around that definition & avoid any problem with violating current accords. one such way, i've read, is a US base/camp within a Philippine Base where US has full autonomy. This has been denied by the officials, but sounds very much plausible.

    the "base" word is avoided in official talk because it is a troublesome term nowadays. its all plausible deniability. people know they're there, its no secret.

    i have conflicting feelings about this. no doubt, they have done a lot of good work & am thankful about it. i also know that the AFP has major issues & im not sure they could get the job done by themselves.

    still, understand that i am frustrated by the fact that my own country still depends on foreign troops. as a filipino, i am disappointed by the fact we cant protect our own soil by ourselves.

    its not an anti-american sentiment. its just frustration of our own ineptitude. its also reinforces of our long held colonial mentality that we can never get things done but the foreigners can (in this case, the abu sayaf problem).

    but i know that my feelings about this doesn't reflect reality. all the success done there is due to US presence. but maybe someday the Phil can be like (ack, gag… i hate to say it) vietnam, thailand or malaysia. a fully independent country in every sense of the word.

  11. Hi Ron LaFleur – thanks for your input on this subject. Good to know that you Marines were not out drilling for oil! 😉

    Hi Macky – Yeah, the local people here do know about the presence of troops. What I meant was I wonder how many Americans are aware that US troops are in the Philippines.

  12. Hi bob, you would probably be interested in knowing that Australia has an undisclosed number of troops in mindanao as well as the US. There was a story in the news sometime last year (when gloria graced us with her presence) about an agreement between her and our former prime minister about 20 something patrol boats our goverment had donated to the phils government and also that troops would be heading over there to train phils troops in anti-terrorist excercises. cheers

  13. Hi Jason – Indeed I am aware of the Aussie presence here in Mindanao. I have run across some Australian soldiers here a couple of times. You guys are a little lower profile than the Americans here.

  14. Hey Ron: Semper Fi

    Bob, Maybe I was mis understood.
    During my time in the Marine Corps I dont recall ever drilling for oil either. 😆

    According to the article (questionable source as you pointed out) If alot of Oil gets moved thru the Malacca Strait. I could see how the US Gov could have a interest in the area for the security of this Oil passing thru this area.

  16. Bob, Robert Kaplan has written a really interesting book called Imperial Grunts, which is about the War on Terror. In the book Kaplan reports on his travels with American troops in various locales and he has a really informative chapter about the American Special Forces in Zamboanga and Jolo, as well as a discussion about the entire experience of the American military in the Philippines. Just thought some of you might be interested as it's a good read. Richard W.

  17. Hi Richard Wilson – Thanks for sharing about that book, I had not heard of it previously. It certainly sounds interesting, and I think I'll try to pick up a copy!

  18. Corollary to Neal's point of a very significant volume of the world's trade passes through the Strait of Malacca then through the South China Sea, hence the U.S. needs to make sure military conflict around the region will never come to fruition, I have one point on that.

    This was supposed to be the reason why Japan rapidly controlled the area during WWII.

    So why is Japan not putting a lot of resources helping the security in that particular area of the world today? Majority of Japan's exports use these sea lanes to transport to a big part of the globe.

    True, Japan's constitution prohibits expansive militarization but as a U.S taxpayer it's really frustrating to see the ineptitude of the U.S. leadership to push Japan to pony up money and resources especially
    because it's the major beneficiary of the benefits in securing this region.

    The Australians are contributing. Where are the Japanese? And also South Koreans for that matter?…so do the Singaporeans?

    I think the State Department needs some prodding here. Americans are really tired of paying all these taxes! (Then again, most Americans probably don't even know where the Strait of Malacca is.)

  19. Hi Dr. Long – I would agree with you completely. It's time for the USA to step back a bit. Let others take some responsibility for their own security, and the security of the region they are in. Not only will it save the US a lot of money, it will also give the USA a little better reputation around the world as well.