RP-US Military Bases Agreement: Was it Beneficial to the Philippines?
By: Roland San Juan
From 1946 to 1991 the Philippines depended much of its security requirements from the United States. In 1947, the RP-US Military Bases Agreement was signed. On March 21 of the same year the RP-US Military Assistance Agreement was also signed. It is an agreement that provided training of personnel and development of the AFP.
In 1951, the RP-US Defense Treaty was signed. Since the US provided the Philippines with enough defense equipment, the latter reciprocated the relationship by:
Sending Combat Contingent to Korea (The Philippines was one of the first contingent to arrive in South Korea)
Sending Civic Action Team to Vietnam
Allowing the US to use Military Bases in the Philippines to conduct bombing runs to North Vietnam
It is also noted that while the US is supporting the Philippines in its defense requirements during the US stint in the Philippines, the US enjoyed the Parity Rights which allowed US firms to explore, develop and use natural resources within the country. This is a privilege that cannot be availed by any Filipino in any US territory.
From 1946 to 1991 approximately 8 Billion Dollars was spent to support the Philippine Defense. However, this amount is a pittance compared to the amount that the US provided for its other allies. This amount is broken down to support the following programs:
IMET – International Military Education and Training Program
MAP - Military Assistance Program
EDA – Excess Defense Articles
FMS – Foreign Military Sales
Cash Agreement & Direct & Guaranteed Credits from the US Department of Defense
In 1966, President Marcos changed the 99-year period lease of the Military bases to 25 years, ending it in 1991.
The US ended the MAP grant on September 30, 1981.
In 1982 there was a renegotiation of pay rentals of the Military Bases from 0.5 Billion Dollars to 1.5 Billion Dollars. The US bounced back with 1 Billion Dollars negotiation. However, before things were implemented everything was placed aside due to chaos until the People Power Revolution in 1986.
It was understood that despite the close-ties with the US, the Philippines was not getting its worth that would have modernized the AFP.
The Military & Economic Assistance Agreement was signed on 27 April 1955. In this agreement, the US granted the Philippines 9.5 Million Dollars for the construction and improvement of Basa Airbase. One of the main features of this agreement was the SRDP program or the Self Reliance Defense Posture where experiments and production of small defense items were initiated. Among the many items developed were the following:
Philippine Prototype Light Plane developed and designed by COLONEL GEORGE AQUINO of the Philippine Air Force. Except for the engine, all parts of the plane was made of local materials. It was successfully test flown in 1975. For some reasons, it was shelved and was never pursued.
Surface to Surface Rocket- developed by the Philippine Navy. This was successfully tested at the Manila Bay. For some reasons, this projects was not pursued due to lack of funds and no takers from private sector.
Air to Ground Rocket by the Philippine Air Force. This was successfully tested in 1970 and was used by the PAF for some time and save thousands of dollars for the Philippines.
Aside from experiments and production of small defense items, the Philippines was able to establish the following:
Local production of M16A1 through ELISCO in Manila.
Local production of URC187, URC773 and URC601 through Vitronix in Manila.
In 1991 the Philippines rejected the proposal of continuing the Military Bases Agreement with the US with a Senate vote of 12-11. The decision was so costly both economically and militarily. Generally, the Philippines was not ready for that decision. The immediate cut-off of military support and lose of thousands of jobs was not anticipated and worse, the government has not mitigated the negative effects.
The economic dislocation of thousands of Filipinos (42,000 direct employment and 79,000 indirect employment) was compounded by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Revenue from the vacated installations decreased from 13.8 Million Dollars per year to 2.4 Million Dollars in 1993.
The conversion of some facilities into economic zones has resurrected some potential in the Philippine economy but then the effect of US pull-out on the AFP was irreparable because the government failed to provide what the AFP was receiving from the US before 1991; hence the AFP’s capability to protect the country badly deteriorated.
Over the years, there have been questions on the RP-US Security Program:
Question Nr 1: What role has the US Security Assistance Program played in equipping/modernizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines?
Initially, it was of the best interest of the Philippines to receive equipment, training and doctrine of the US military. However, in the long run, being the recipient of the old equipment which mostly were for disposal of the US military, obsolescence took its tool reducing most of these one-time expensive equipment items to expensive hunks of junks. The AFP modernization effort was not able to evolve because it has been so dependent on the US without being able to touch ground with other international defense market.
MAP was one of the best leverage of the AFP to fund its modernization program, until the RP-US Bases Agreement was terminated in 1991.
Question Nr 2. What are the specific implications of MAP termination to the AFP Major Services’ logistics capabilities?
With the termination of the MAP the AFP budget should be increased tremendously to cope with the cost of maintenance and acquisition that were previously supported by MAP.
On maintenance capabilities and spares supportability considerations: The Philippine Navy was expected to decommission more and more ships because it cannot afford the cost of maintenance especially so, that the ships acquired were old and maintenance intensive. The same was expected to the air assets of the PAF and the mobility assets of the PA.
On Major Weapon Acquisition: Without the MAP, the AFP units would be hard-pressed to acquire new equipment out of their own funds because new acquisition is very costly and would compete with the maintenance of the existing systems. Without providing a marked increase in defense budget, acquisition of new defense items would be very limited.
Question Nr 3. What are the possible effects on the AFP Self Reliance Defense Posture (SRDP) Program with the termination of MAP?
The program was actually set up to be the vehicle for export. The requirement of the AFP is too small to support the industries; therefore export is mandatory to continue the operations of the selected defense factories. MAP can support SRDP in terms of technology transfer such as acquiring expensive special tools, support equipment, mock-ups / test equipment and assembly fixtures. It can also help in training special skill requirement of the industries. MAP can also support researches and OJT programs to the AFP R&D. The US can also provide and lobby with other allied countries for markets of the probable exports. With the termination of MAP, SRDP needs to pump a large amount of capital into the selected industries which the normal budget system of the Philippines cannot support.
Question Nr 4. What other possible sources of financial or military aid are available for the AFP from countries in the Pacific region?
The Philippines has relatively good diplomatic relationship with almost all the countries in the Pacific region such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the members of the ASEAN. Among these countries, only Australia thru its Defense Cooperation Program (DCP) may be regarded as a possible source of financial or military aid for the AFP. In the past, the AFP dealt with other western countries such as West Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Great Britain for small supplies of arms and equipment.
Among these countries none has really shown the same degree of interest in security assistance for the Philippines as that demonstrated by the United States.
It is a fact that the Americans really wanted to retain its bases in the Philippines for at least 10 years, had the Senate voted for their retention. The Philippines could have told the Americans that in exchange for the retention of the Bases, the US would modernize the AFP, using the take it or leave it formula. It was a deal that the Americans can hardly refuse because of the strategic location of the Philippines.
At that time, Cory Aquino was so popular that she could have asked the Americans that she wanted to modernize the AFP.
At the end of the article the writer, mentioned about the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which was signed immediately when the US focused on War against Terrorism. With VFA the Americans were able to help the AFP kill Abu Sabaya in 2002. Although in limited scale, the US was able to donate military equipment to the AFP which were very helpful in its internal security efforts.
(About the writer: ROLAND SAN JUAN was a researcher, management consultant, inventor, a part time radio broadcaster and a publishing director. He died last November 25, 2008 after suffering a stroke. His staff will continue his unfinished work to inform the world of the untold truths. Please read Erick San Juan's articles at: ericksanjuan.blogspot.com This blog is dedicated to the late Max Soliven, a FILIPINO PATRIOT. DISCLAIMER - We do not own or claim any rights to the articles presented in this blog. They are for information and reference only for whatever it's worth. They are copyrighted to their rightful owners.)
