US forces will gain access to more military bases in the Philippines than the five already announced, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday as he began a visit to the longstanding Asian ally.

Manila announced this year it would allow US forces to use five of its installations, including an air base close to the South China Sea.

The agreement that went in force in January aims to strengthen the Philippines’ defensive capabilities amid a tense maritime dispute with China, while helping the Pentagon pivot more of its forces toward Asia.

“There will be more, these are just the five initial sites for rotational presence” of US troops, Carter told reporters on his flight to Manila from India.

“The agreement provides for more sites in the future,” he said.

Short-term rotations of US forces and equipment through these five facilities is “our favorite way of having a presence, for US forces to operate in and out of the Philippines, in support of our allies, of our broader networks of friends and allies in the region.”

Carter is in Manila to attend Friday’s ceremony marking the end of an annual Balikatan, a large-scale joint military exercise between the two allies.

He called on President Aquino at Malacañang yesterday.

Defense officials from the Philippines and Vietnam will also meet this week to explore possible joint exercises and navy patrols, military sources said, shoring up a new alliance between states locked in maritime rows with China.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year.

The US defense chief’s visit also takes place weeks before a ruling is expected on an arbitration case the Philippines has brought against China in The Hague.

The United States believes that whatever the tribunal’s decision, it will be binding on both China and the Philippines, but China has refused to recognize the case and says all disputes should be resolved through bilateral talks.

“The trip carries greater weight because of the impending arbitration ruling,” said Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Security support

“Secretary Carter’s task is to reassure the Philippines that it has US security backing for a rules-based approach to settling disputes.”

Carter said he did not know at this time how many more Philippine military bases would be opened to US use.

“This is an evolving thing. We agreed to do these five with an understanding that they could be more and would be more, as we see what else and where else is significant,” he added.

The five already approved by Manila include the Antonio Bautista Airbase in Palawan.

The base is just 300 kilometers east of Mischief Reef, an outcrop occupied by China in the 1990s despite angry protests by the Philippines.

China claims virtually all the strategic and resources-rich South China Sea despite conflicting partial claims by Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Beijing has in recent months been asserting its claim by occupying more reefs and outcrops in these waters, and building artificial islands including airstrips on some of them.

The Philippines has warned the Chinese activity could be a prelude to Beijing declaring an air defense zone in the area.

Washington does not take sides in the territorial disputes, but has warned against attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation in international waters.

Under the accord, US forces will also gain access to Basa Airbase, about 330 kilometers from Scarborough Shoal which was occupied by Chinese vessels after a tense confrontation with Philippine ships in 2012.

The other bases to be used by the US military are a major army training camp with its own airstrip in the north, and two air bases in the central and southern islands of the archipelago.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by AFP And REUTERS

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]