Call for US government to administer Clark cemetery gaining support

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga , Philippines  – The US media and other US-based supporters have taken the cudgels for American and Filipino war veterans in their campaign for the US government to take responsibility for the rehabilitation and upkeep of a historic cemetery in this former US Air Force base.

Lt. Guy Hilbero, executive officer of the newly revived ceremonial 26th US Cavalry of the Philippine Scouts Memorial Regiment here, said members of the US Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) have deplored the “neglect” of the US government in preserving the cemetery, the only place in this former base where the American flag still flutters alongside the Philippine flag. 

The VFW wants the US to negotiate with the Philippine government so the cemetery could be administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission, a federal agency, or the National Cemetery Administration, a branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hilbero said the veterans have gained the support of the US media in their call, citing an article in the Washington Post last May 31 written by staff writer William Branigin and titled “Veterans group seeks federal upkeep of forgotten US cemetery in the Philippines.”

The Washington Post quoted Filipino-American Ike Puzon, a former US Navy officer who is helping raise awareness about the issue in Washington, as bewailing the failure of US negotiators to provide for the Clark cemetery during the Philippine-US base talks two decades ago.

“Now, the solution may require an agreement between the US and Philippine governments, such as a long-term US lease of the cemetery, and congressional action directing the Monuments Commission to make an exception and administer it,” Puzon said.

The cemetery contains remains dating back to the 18th century. It is the burial site for at least 2,250 members of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard as well as the Philippine Scouts, a branch of the Army during the American occupation of the Philippines. 

Some remains belonged to veterans of the Spanish-American War at the turn of the 20th century, as well as veterans of the wars in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.

Hilbero said copies of the Washington Post article have been forwarded to US Sen. John Patterson, president of the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society, and retired US Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, a Filipino-American.

“They can give us some support in lobbying for US government support,” he said.

The cemetery was abandoned when the Americans permanently left Clark in 1991. Thick volcanic debris buried it when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the same year.

In 1994, Americans belonging to the local VFW negotiated with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), which runs this freeport, for it to rehabilitate and manage the cemetery from donations.

US Navy veteran Dennis Wright, president of Peregrine Development International based in Kuwait but is also operating here, helped build a fence around the 20-acre cemetery and pays for its full-time security personnel.

The Washington Post noted that the Clark cemetery continues to be active, as US veterans, mostly those who have retired in the Philippines, are buried there.

There are two to three burials at the cemetery every month, the most recent of which were a Filipino-American soldier and a civilian employee of the US Defense Department who both died in Iraq.

The Washington Post quoted Larry Heilhecker, commander of VFW Post 2485 and chairman of the group managing the cemetery, as saying, “It’s a shame that this cemetery has been long neglected by our (US) government.”

Heilhecker estimates that it would cost about $500,000 to upgrade the Clark cemetery up to US standards and at least $3,000 monthly for maintenance.

The Washington Post also quoted Matthew Daley, a former US diplomat who has taken interest in the Clark cemetery, as saying, “A first-class job could be done for $100,000 a year which is not even spare change as our budgets go.”

According to the US paper, the American Battle Monuments Commission maintains US military cemeteries overseas, including the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, which, however, is already closed to burials.

The National Cemetery Administration, for its part, maintains 131 national cemeteries in 39 US states, but none overseas.