Sleepy far-flung towns in the Philippines will host US forces returning to counter China threats

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

SANTA ANA, Philippines (AP) — The far-flung coastal town of Santa Ana in the northeastern tip of the Philippine mainland has long been known by tourists mostly for its beaches, waterfalls, fireflies and a few casinos.

But that’s changing after the laid-back town of about 35,000 people, which still has no traffic light, became strategically important to America.

The United States and the Philippines, which are longtime treaty allies, have identified Santa Ana in northern Cagayan province as one of nine mostly rural areas where rotating batches of American forces could encamp indefinitely and store their weapons and equipment on local military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Thousands of U.S. forces withdrew from two huge Navy and Air Force bases in the Philippines in the early 1990s at the end of the Cold War, ending nearly a century of American military presence in the country. In recent years, Washington has been reinforcing an arc of military alliances in Asia to counter an increasingly assertive China, which it now regards as its greatest security challenge.

https://apnews.com/article/us-forces-philippines-south-china-sea-taiwan-f98247675dd8a808a515601a6f0c5240

[CanonRay]

1. Back in the Philipines again.

In 1939 my 23 year old father tried to enlist in an Illinois National Guard unit with guys from the nearby towns, any of which he knew; Maywood, and Melrose Park. He got rejected because he had a plate in his skull (from a bar fight).

That unit was sent to the Philippines. They became part of the Bataan Death March.

When I was a kid my father dragged me to the Bataan Day Parade held every year in Maywood.

Long US history there.

[Mister Ed]

3. When they called up the reserves, my grandfather was offered a lieutenant's commission in the Maywood Tank Corps.

Because he was married with children, he had the option of declining. He wanted to accept, but his wife said no, and as it turned out she spared him from the Bataan Death March.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

2. The article isn't quite accurate on one point

The Philippines government gave the US the option to keep one base back in the 90s - Clark AFB or the Subic Bay naval base. We kept Clark and closed Subic Bay. Then, a volcano erupted and buried Clark. We determined it would not be cost-effective to rebuild.