‘US access to AFP bases key to Phl defense’

WASHINGTON – US access to Philippine military bases would enable the United States to better help defend the country and assist Filipinos in the event of large-scale natural disasters, said Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of US Pacific Command.

He said both sides were looking at potential access agreements down the road that would be mutually beneficial, adding “we’re making good progress.”

To the perennial question of whether the US is going to reopen Subic or Clark, Locklear said, “I say the US isn’t going to open any more bases in the Asia-Pacific region. We’re not in that business.”

What the US is looking for is an opportunity to be able to have access to Philippine military bases to help in the country’s defense and help them respond to a broad range of contingencies, Locklear told a Pentagon news briefing on Thursday.

“The Filipinos are committed to developing a minimum credible defense and as a close ally we’re committed to assisting them where we can,” Locklear said.

“The US presence in the Asia-Pacific is not going anywhere,” he said.

Referring to China, he said the US-China military-to-military relationship is deepening in a “quite commendable” way that may help improve overall engagement between the two countries.

Locklear has been involved in security, strategic and economic dialogues with visiting Chinese officials in Washington over the past two days.

“We are having an ongoing dialogue with the Chinese military about … the rules of the road, of how we manage our relationship as the Chinese navy inevitably gets larger and inevitably will come out further from their territorial seas.

“The US presence in the Asia-Pacific is not going anywhere. So we have to manage our ability to operate around each other. And I think that it’s a doable thing,” he said.