Philippine liaison
hails renewed ties

Oahu-Manila route to resume?

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

As a Philippine senator nine years ago, Ernesto Maceda helped lead the political battle to kick the U.S. military out of his country.

Now the ambassador to the United States, he's pushed to bring American troops back.

Maceda supported Senate passage last May of an agreement between the two countries to allow joint training and Navy port calls in the Philippines. In February, U.S. troops, possibly including soldiers from Schofield Barracks, will return for military exercises.

When Maceda presented his diplomatic credentials in Washington, President Clinton told him the two countries could now "enter a new millennium as equal partners and build a robust defense cooperation.

"It's reopened all doors in Washington," said Maceda, who is in Honolulu to address businesses going to the Philippines on an upcoming trade mission.

In 1991, Maceda fought the permanent presence of foreign troops in the Philippines. To the U.S. military, Clark Air Base and Subic Bay were premier, one-stop-shop bases in Asia. But to many Filipinos, the huge reserves were an insult to national sovereignty, and base talks between the two countries were often acrimonious. The explosion of nearby Mount Pinatubo shut down Clark in 1991. Senators later voted to shut down Subic, and the relationship between the two countries soured.

Maceda, who spent eight years in exile in the United States during the Marcos years, has never regretted his vote. Today, twice as many Filipinos are employed on the two former bases than when the U.S. military was there -- although salaries may not compare. The Philippine government made Clark and Subic special economic zones where electronics and information technology have taken off, fueling exports for the country.

Maceda said the rewarming of the military relationship has underlined the U.S. commitment to the mutual defense treaty. The Philippine government's major security concern is the Spratly Islands, an oil-rich and strategic area also claimed by China.

He also believes the United States will be more willing to help modernize the Philippine military. And Maceda hopes the Philippines will see as many Navy port calls as Singapore, which he said hosts about 40 visits a year. That means as many as 30,000 U.S. sailors could boost the country's tourism.

Maceda said most military exercises would be held at Fort Magsaysay and in the southern island of Mindanao rather than at the former U.S. bases. Muslim rebels on Mindanao, he said, would not pose a threat.

"Neither the government, nor (communist) rebels nor Muslims have too many bullets in their arsenals. How can they fight?"

Maceda said the relationship between the two countries extends beyond the military. Since Japan's economic crisis, the United States has become the Philippines' No. 1 trading partner, buying about 45 percent of all Filipino exports.

Oahu-Manila route to resume? By Susan Kreifels Star-Bulletin The Philippine ambassador to the United States is confident he can restore Philippine Airlines flights between Manila and Honolulu in the next six to eight months. Ernesto Maceda said yesterday that he will send a "strong memo" to Philippine President Joseph Estrada to resume the three weekly flights, which stopped in June 1998 after Philippine Airlines' pilots went on strike. Since then there have been no direct flights between Hawaii and the Philippines. Since all flights were suspended between Taiwan and Manila about three weeks ago due to various contentious issues, cargo delivery between Hawaii and the Philippines has been interrupted, Maceda said. Cargo was being flown via Taiwan.