US ship on 4-day visit to Manila

MANILA, Philippines - United States nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington made a port call in Manila yesterday to begin its four-day goodwill visit.

“This is our ship’s second port visit to Manila and our crew are excited to be back in the Philippines,” said Capt. David Lausman, who is in command of the George Washington of the Carrier Task Force 73 based in Yokosuka, Japan.

“We operated up and down the South China sea, doing our flight operations in international waters before coming here,” Lausman said. The carrier’s last Philippine visit was in August last year, during which its men spent more than $7 million for hotel bookings, sightseeing and shopping activities.

The visit came amid increasing naval presence of China in the South China Sea, where claims to some atolls and islets are being disputed among several countries including the Philippines.

Last month, the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US 7th Fleet was also in Manila.

Escorting the George Washington, which has more than 5,000 crewmembers, were destroyers USS McCampbell and USS John F. McCain and cruiser USS Cowpens. Some 30 percent of the carrier’s crew were Filipinos. The carrier group, which came from Singapore, dropped anchor in Manila near the Mall of Asia.

“The USS George Washington, would be also be watching over this region to maintain maritime security not only over the South China but also down the western Pacific,” Lausman said.

He said it’s in the interest of the US and the rest of the countries in the region to keep the international waters open to trade and commerce.

“I would say they’re an interest of your country too.”

Lausman said that his sailors would interact with their counterparts in the Philippine Navy as well as participate in community and civic projects.

But while the Philippine Navy has welcomed the trip as a testament to the “strong historic, community and military connections between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines,” the Communist Party of the Philippines said the visit was proof of “American interventionism.” 

“(The trip is) a grave insult and affront on Philippine sovereignty,” the group said in a statement. – With Pia Lee- Brago and Amanda Fisher