When you cut off a tentacle of a he’e (octopus), the severed arm grows back. Such is the case with the monstrous octopus of the U.S. military in the Asia-Pacific region. With the U.S. bases in Hawai’i as the head of this he’e, its tentacles are grasping Okinawa, Guam, Korea, Japan, the Marshall Islands, and now once again the Philippines. The Philippines People’s Power movement forced the U.S. to close Subic Bay and Clark military bases more than a decade ago. But the tentacles of U.S. militarism have regenerated in Mindanao under the guise of fighting terrorists, and now Senators Inouye and Cochran have visited the Philippines to explore the possibility of U.S. forces returning to Subic. We expect that resistance will be fierce to U.S. forces returning to Subic. But the peace and justice movements in the Pacific region will need to neutralize the head of the he’e in Hawai’i if we will have peace from America’s empire of bases.
The article below quotes former UH professor Dean Alegado:
In an earlier interview, Dean Alegado, executive director of the Association of Pacific Islands Local Government Conference, said the disaster that hit Japan “made the fate of the military build-up uncertain, to say the least.”
Alegado was once very active in progressive Philippines solidarity work in Hawai’i. He worked with the Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solutions (FACES) which fought for the clean up of the former U.S. military bases at Clark and Subic and for just compensation for the victims of the environmental contamination. We hope he will be vocal in opposition to the return of U.S. forces in Subic.
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Return of US forces to Subic possible
US military build-up in Guam delayed
By Robert Gonzaga
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:18:00 04/28/2011
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — High-level visits here by American officials have raised the prospect of a return of the United States’ military presence in this former naval base in the wake of disasters that hit Japan, which have delayed the planned US military build-up in Guam.
US Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran visited this free port on Tuesday and met with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Olongapo City officials.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer learned of the visit but was told that it was “not open to press coverage.”
In March, US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. also met with local officials and briefed them about the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on the transfer of US military bases in Okinawa to Guam. The visit was not announced to reporters here.
Inouye and Cochran, chair and ranking member, respectively, of the US Senate committee on appropriations, appeared to be interested in the possibility of an increased presence of the US military in the country, a source present at the luncheon meeting for the visiting senators hosted by Subic and local officials told the Inquirer.
The source, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said: “Their official reason for being here was to obtain a situationer of developments in the area and to consult with local officials about these. They even brought their technical staff. During the discussion, they were curious about the reception in the country of an [increased presence of the US military] here.”
The source also said the US embassy “gave strict instructions that [the media] not be allowed to cover the visit.”
“Their embassy arranged the logistics of the visit directly with Olongapo City [officials], and not the SBMA,” the source said.
Facilities in the free port that can be used by the US military, like the airport and seaport, are intact, according to the source.
“Even now, they are already using it as part of the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement). But if they substantially increase their presence here, then the free port can still accommodate them,” the source further said.
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