No basing, even temporary, for US troops in RP — GMA

President Arroyo rejected yesterday the idea of the Philippines hosting US military bases even on a temporary basis, citing a constitutional prohibition on the presence of foreign military bases in the country.

Sought for his comment, Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. said what Washington wants is the capability to deploy troops in any part of the world in the quickest way possible.

Last Sunday, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said US forces will increasingly use temporary military bases in Asian countries and around the globe as part of Washington’s evolving defense strategy.

However, the Philippines cannot allow US bases on its soil whether or not it is designated a major non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally of the United States, Mrs. Arroyo said.

US President George W. Bush said Washington plans to designate the Philippines a major US ally.

"Our Constitution prohibits foreign military bases in our territory. This is known to all nations," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement issued hours before she left yesterday for a visit to South Korea and Japan.

Mrs. Arroyo will meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for talks on security and trade, among other issues.

Guingona, who clashed with Mrs. Arroyo last year over the presence of US troops in the country, said Manila’s military agreements with Washington made it unnecessary for the United States to set up a permanent base here.

"What they really want is to get greater access that will give their troops flexibility in responding to security concerns in this part of the world," Guingona said.

"The Americans have come to realize that apart from being expensive to maintain, having military bases in the Philippines is a potential source of conflict," he said.

Guingona quit his second post as foreign affairs secretary in July last year after publicly opposing Mrs. Arroyo’s policy of allowing US troops to help in the Philippine military’s campaign against the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group in Mindanao.

In November, Manila and Washington signed a five-year military logistics agreement, seen as a key element in enhancing the US-led global war against terrorism.

The Mutual Logistics and Support Agreement would give the US limited rights to base equipment in the Philippines for a limited period.

It specified that no US military base, facility or permanent structure will be allowed, apparently to appease critics who said the MLSA was a cover for the return of US bases closed in the early 1990s.

In late 1992, the United States shut down its two large military bases in the Philippines — Clark air force base in Pampanga and Subic naval base in Zambales — when the Senate rejected in September that year a treaty extending their leases.

Nationalist and leftist groups, who are leery of any US military influence in the country, said the agreement violated constitutional provisions banning the basing of foreign military in the country.

Speaking at conference of Southeast Asian defense ministers, armed forces chiefs and academics at the conference in Singapore, Wolfowitz said temporary US bases were being considered to enable Washington to respond quickly to security threats.

"To adapt to a world where potential threats have become more unpredictable, we are placing a greater premium on mobility and of the ability to move from existing bases at great speed and using temporary base solutions as needed," Wolfowitz said.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who spoke with Wolfowitz in Singapore, said the United States "would want to have maximum flexibility, maximum mobility given the realities of time."

"But they are only too aware that there are certain constitutional limitations and that these constitutional limitations will be inviolate," he said.

Reyes said he assured Wolfowitz the Philippines "would continue to cooperate and further enhance" its alliance with the United States.

"We have shown that in our cooperation with our neighbors in the region and we have shown that in our own campaigns vis-a-vis domestic terrorists," he said.

Reyes dismissed speculation that the major non-NATO ally status the United States plans to designate on the Philippines was part of a plan to set up US bases in the country.

"The major non-NATO ally designation will open the door, and it will be a big door for more security and defense cooperation and assistance," he said.

The vast majority of American soldiers in the region are currently stationed in South Korea and Japan, but media reports have suggested the United States is considering forging a stronger presence in the Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Wolfowitz stressed to the delegates that Washington had yet to settle on a final plan.

"Before making decisions, we need to consult both with our own Congress and with our allies and friends in the region, and that process is underway," he added.

Two US lawmakers who visited the Philippines last week, Sen. Chuck Hagel and Sen. Jack Reed, said the US government is presently assessing its defense strategy.

"Certainly we have to constantly assess our force structure and redeployment," Hagel said.

"This is a constant process but there have been no firm plans to decide to go to any one country or another," Reed said.

In a related development, Sen. John Osmeña expressed support yesterday for the proposed stationing of US troops in the country "for a more effective campaign against terrorism, but admits that the stationing is not possible under the 1987 Constitution.

"There is no way American troops can be based in the Philippines, even on a temporary basis," Osmeña said.

Osmeña, one of those who voted for the retention of US bases in 1991, pointed out that terrorism is now a transnational crime and the Philippines cannot effectively combat this menace alone.

"We need the help of the United States and the other countries in the region in fighting international terrorism, but there is nothing we can do to get US troops here unless the Constitution is amended," Osmeña said in a statement. — With Sammy Santos, Pia Lee-Brago