United States Military Bases Philippines

Ever since three Americans were ambushed and killed outside Clark Air Base east of here, the gates to the giant U.S. naval base at Subic Bay had been closed, and the nearby town of Olongapo quickly began to die. Bar girls were pawning their jewelry and television sets. Bar owners thought seriously about selling out and moving on. In just one week's time, local officials said, more than $1 million dollars in business had been lost.

A decade after the Philippines kicked the United States military out of the country, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Monday that the international fight against terrorism has turned the two countries into close allies again. Arroyo, who visited Washington last month and won a promise of $100 million in military aid, said the United States has resumed using its former bases in the Philippines for refueling and storage for forces heading to Afghanistan.

The Philippines Senate today formally rejected a new military base treaty with the United States, plunging the Philippines into an economic and political crisis over the future of the Subic Bay Naval Base, America's last military outpost in Southeast Asia. The 12-11 vote by the Senate came a day after President Corazon Aquino announced that she will seek a national referendum to decide the base question, attempting to override the Senate action with a popular vote.

Eight years after the Philippine Senate ordered the U.S. military out of the country, Manila appears likely to ratify a new agreement with Washington for increased military cooperation. Although a 1951 mutual defense pact has remained in effect, the forced closure of Clark Air Base, once the largest U.S. military facility outside the continental United States, and a naval base at Subic Bay led to strains in the Manila-Washington relationship that continue to this day. No U.S.

The 18-year-old bar girl said she wanted to kill herself, so Richard Gordon, the mayor of this city outside the U.S. naval base, produced his 9-millimeter automatic, placed it in front of her and said, "OK, go ahead." The girl, one of 26 AIDS victims in Olongapo, studied the gun for a moment and then broke down. She and the mayor ended the session in a tearful embrace. But Gordon knew he had not gotten through to her. That was 30 days ago. Finally, on Tuesday morning, Gordon reached her.

As bugles blared retreat and a farewell honor guard stood at attention, the American flag was slowly lowered for the last time here Tuesday as the United States formally turned over its oldest and once-largest overseas base to the Philippines. Within an hour of the solemn ceremony, dozens of looters were reported climbing over fences toward a base housing complex and ripping out major electric cables.

Eight years after the Philippine Senate ordered the U.S. military out of the country, Manila appears likely to ratify a new agreement with Washington for increased military cooperation. Although a 1951 mutual defense pact has remained in effect, the forced closure of Clark Air Base, once the largest U.S. military facility outside the continental United States, and a naval base at Subic Bay led to strains in the Manila-Washington relationship that continue to this day. No U.S.

Vice President Dan Quayle, who arrived amid anti-American demonstrations here Tuesday night shortly after suspected Communist rebels killed two American employees at a U.S. military base, today condemned the killings as "cowardly murders" that were linked to his visit. Although no group immediately claimed responsibility, U.S.

So you're left with a former U.S. Navy base complete with airport and modern facilities, at least 42,000 highly skilled workers and a lot of hope. What's a former mayor to do? Recruit businesses, says Richard Gordon. Gordon has a challenge that many American localities will soon face: converting a closed military facility to commercial use. But Gordon's story comes from thousands of miles across the Pacific at the former Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines.

A U.S. Air Force sergeant was shot and killed Monday night by gunmen in a residential subdivision near Clark Air Base north of Manila, American and Philippine authorities said today. The victim, who was identified by local authorities as Sgt. Richard Blackmer, 34, apparently was walking his two German shepherds through the Mountain View subdivision about a mile from the U.S. base's main gate about 9:30 p.m. when gunmen in a passing car opened fire with automatic weapons, local police said.

The U.S. Air Force planes are gone, as are the 10-cent happy hours at the officers club. But the doomsayers had it wrong. Neither the Americans' departure nor the volcanic ash from Mt. Pinatubo's explosion turned Clark Air Base into a wasteland. Indeed, Clark, once the largest U.S.

So you're left with a former U.S. Navy base complete with airport and modern facilities, at least 42,000 highly skilled workers and a lot of hope. What's a former mayor to do? Recruit businesses, says Richard Gordon. Gordon has a challenge that many American localities will soon face: converting a closed military facility to commercial use. But Gordon's story comes from thousands of miles across the Pacific at the former Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines.

With tears, cheers and a 21-gun salute on the windy shores of this scenic port, the United States bade a final emotional farewell Tuesday to Subic Bay, long its largest overseas military base, and formally closed a remarkable chapter in both American and Philippine history. At precisely 10 a.m., a Marine honor guard hauled down and crisply folded the American flag for the final time at the last U.S. base in America's former colony. Moments later, Philippine President Fidel V.

The United States lowered the American flag over its Subic Bay Naval Base for the last time Wednesday and formally handed over the giant complex to the Philippines. A steady drizzle drenched about 150 diplomats and military officials as a U.S. Navy band rang down the curtain on nearly a century of U.S. military presence at the base. "This is in some way a sad day," U.S. Ambassador Richard Solomon told the ceremony at the base's Tappan Park. ". . .

A U.S. Navy honor guard will haul down the flag for the last time at the Subic Bay Naval Station on Wednesday as part of the planned withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the Philippines. The final few hundred sailors and Marines will move back to the adjoining Cubi Point Naval Air Station until they too leave on Nov. 24, ending more than a century of U.S. military presence in the country.

The last American military dependents left the Subic Bay Naval Base on Wednesday, marking a major step in the phaseout of nearly a century of U.S. military presence in this former colony. The Navy said 232 wives and children of sailors took a chartered flight to Guam. With their departure, only about 1,400 U.S. sailors remain at what had been the largest U.S. naval base in Asia.

Thousands of U.S. Navy personnel recently disembarked from the battleship Missouri and its support ships at Subic Bay Naval Base north of Manila for rest and relaxation before steaming off to the Persian Gulf war zone, where underwater mines have proven to be a hazard. In doing so, the men were entering a danger zone of a different kind, one where the menace is AIDS, according to Lt. Cmdr. Thomas O'Rourke, a 34-year-old Navy physician.

Members of the Philippine Senate cast a preliminary vote Monday to reject a new bases deal with the United States, raising the possibility that the 93-year U.S. military presence in the country will end when the current agreement expires next week. Bush Administration officials hope that Philippine President Corazon Aquino--who came to power with U.S.

The three huge floating dry docks have floated away, towed off to Guam, Hawaii and Japan. The recruiting station that brought 35,000 Filipinos into the U.S. Navy is shut. The ship repair facility, one of the Navy's largest, is closing this month. The once-busy Officers' Club and elegant Chart House restaurant are locked and dark. The books are gone from the library, horses sold from the El Kabayo Stables, closing sales under way at the PX. Even the bowling lanes were ripped out and shipped away.

U.S. and Philippine officials will consider arranging limited future access for American military forces in the Philippines after the last U.S. bases here are closed down, Secretary of State James A. Baker III said Saturday. Emerging from a 30-minute meeting with newly elected Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos, Baker told reporters that military access for the United States will be discussed in November at a meeting of the Mutual Defense Board.