THE US Navy will be allowed to make limited use of Philippine naval bases under an agreement the two sides are almost ready to sign.
If signed, the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement will be administered by the executive arm of the Government and will therefore lie beyond the reach of the Senate, which in 1992 voted to rescind an agreement providing the United States with military bases in the Philippines.
Bases opponent Daniel Schirmer said the new agreement would bind the Philippines to continuing services that might support US wars in the Asia-Pacific, as it had done for 100 years.
Under the proposed agreement, the Philippine military will provide logistical support, supplies and services to the American military, and vice versa.
But the extent of services - including storage, parts, medical infrastructure, training and transport - are similar to the range of services that were available to American frontline units while the Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station were operational.
The new agreement was temporarily shelved because Philippine Defence Secretary Renato de Villa was unhappy with some of the provisions, particularly on the stockpiling of weapons.