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- WORLD, Page 37World NotesTHE PHILIPPINESFarewell to Subic Bay
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- The Philippine Senate seemed set this week to vote against
- the treaty signed last July that extended U.S. access to its
- giant naval base at Subic Bay for 10 years. Rejection of the
- agreement will bring to an end more than 90 years of American
- military presence in the Philippines.
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- The new base treaty needs the approval of two-thirds of
- the 23-member Senate. Although President Corazon Aquino, the
- armed forces and a large majority of the public clearly favor
- the agreement, 12 Senators are adamantly opposed, thus killing
- any chance of ratification.
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- The Philippines faces the loss of $305 million annually,
- which the U.S. had agreed to pay for the use of Subic Bay over
- the next 10 years; some 25,000 jobs for Filipinos on and around
- the base, with a payroll of more than $110 million annually; and
- the prospect of diminished economic and military aid. Secretary
- of Defense Dick Cheney reflected Washington's tough response
- when he declared last week, "We'll pack up and move. That's it."
- But other officials indicated that the U.S. would listen if, in
- the next few months, the Philippines can find a way around the
- Senate's rejection.
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