The United States has asked for
access to Philippine military bases in eight locations to rotate troops,
aircraft, and ships as Washington shifts its forces to Asia and as
China expands its military presence in the South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter answers reporters' question during a joint news conference with his South Korean counterpart Han Min Koo at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 10, 2015.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in a
speech in Arizona, has outlined Washington's next phase in its Asia
"pivot", deploying its most sophisticated destroyers, bombers and
fighters to the region.
The Asia "pivot" has already seen U.S.
Marines rotating through the Australian tropical city of Darwin, the
country's closest city to Asia, for training.
At least eight locations in the
Philippines have been identified as possible sites where U.S. troops,
planes and ships will be rotated through a series of military training
and exercises, Philippine General Gregorio Catapang, military chief,
told local television network ABS-CBN.
But, the Americans will have to wait
until after the Philippine's Supreme Court makes its rulings on the
constitutionality of the military deal, called Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement, signed last year between Manila and Washington.
It may decide later this year.
"If we formalize (now) and they start
putting up structures and it’s not constitutional, they will have to
destroy those structures," Catapang said late on Friday, adding the list
was finalised in October during a Mutual Defence Board meeting.
Four of the locations are on the main
island of Luzon, where U.S. and Filipino soldiers usually hold
exercises, two on the central Cebu island, and two more on the western
island of Palawan, near the disputed Spratly.
China claims most of the potentially
energy-rich South China Sea, disputed in parts with the Philippines,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, and denies accusations its actions
in its own territory are provocative.
Recent satellite images suggest China
has made rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military
use in contested territory in the Spratly islands, which drew concern
from the United States and its allies in Asia.
"Once the U.S. rebalance to Asia policy
is in full swing, the Philippines expect the Americans to seek more
access to military bases on Mindanao island and civilian airstrips on
Luzon," said a senior air force official familiar with the arrangements.
"The Americans are interested in Laoag
airport and Batanes island, both in the northern part of Luzon," he
said, adding U.S. planes had landed on Batanes during the war in Iraq
and Afghanistan in the early 2000s.
The United States is also interested to
return to its two former military bases in Subic and Clark, which they
left in 1992 after the Philippines terminated basing agreement.
Source: Reuters
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