'US submarine port call scheduled before shoal row'

MANILA, Philippines - The visit of a US submarine in Subic was a routine port call scheduled on April 3, before the standoff between Philippine and Chinese vessels in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal started, Philippine security officials said yesterday.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, however, said he was not notified of the port call, adding that he would be willing to visit the submarine USS North Carolina (SSN-777).

For its part, the US embassy said yesterday that the Philippine government was informed of the arrival of the submarine.

“Of course the Philippine Armed Forces was informed. We do what is required of us by the host government. It is not a surprise,” press attache Bettina Malone told The STAR.

Malone said the Virginia-class fast attack submarine, one of the most modern submarines in the US Navy, is in the country for a routine port visit.

Del Rosario, however, said he learned about the visit only in the newspapers.

“I am very curious if they are here for reprovisioning and I hope they invite me because it seems like a fine ship. I would like to take a good look at it,” del Rosario told reporters after he spoke before the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines.

Spokesman Peter Paul Galvez of the Philippines’ Department of National Defense described the visit as “a regular port call, just like that of any other foreign ships docking in our ports.”

Galvez stressed that the port call was not connected to the Panatag standoff.

The US submarine surfaced last Sunday in Subic Bay in Zambales where it is currently deployed to ensure freedom of navigation in the Western Pacific.

 The USS Carolina’s visit came as the Philippines is embroiled in a standoff with China for more than a month now in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, 124 nautical miles off Zambales.

 The USS Carolina is the fourth submarine in the Virginia class, the Navy’s newest class of submarine and the first ship designed for the post-Cold War environment.

The submarine is designed to operate with stealth, agility and endurance in the world’s littoral regions, as well as the deep oceans.

The cause-oriented group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) yesterday assailed the arrival of a United States nuclear-powered attack submarine in Subic, Zambales.

Bayan said the entry of the USS North Carolina might be a violation of the constitutional ban on the entry of nuclear weapons in the country.

“It’s as if US military bases are back in Subic (home of the former US naval base). Virtual basing and hosting of US warships are being justified by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement. Philippine ports like Subic are again providing logistics support for US ships. We might see more of these port calls now that the US is rebalancing towards Asia,” said Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes.

“The Philippines is de facto hosting US war ships presumably armed with nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. The problem is that under the Visiting Forces Agreement, the US neither confirms nor denies that its ships carry nuclear weapons. However, the presumption is that they do, especially the more advanced ships.”

Bayan said the entry of the high-tech US submarine could have negative repercussions in the Philippines’ dispute with China, saying perceived US involvement may further escalate tensions in the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, where there is an ongoing standoff involving Philippine and Chinese government vessels.

“The port calls made by US warships is part of a greater strategy to project US military power in the region. It is directed at all countries in the region, but most especially China, in

order to keep China subservient to US dictates,” Reyes said.

Bayan also expressed concern that the Philippines continues to play host for rest and recreation activities of US troops, saying this creates a host of social and legal issues.

“Aside from the historical fact that so-called rest and recreation activities for US troops breed prostitution, there is also the unresolved provision in the VFA which places erring US troops under the custody of the US government, even if convicted by a lower court,” Reyes added. With Rhodina Villanueva