MILLIONS OF PESOS LOST DUE TO U.S. SUB’S CANCELLED PORT CALL
(Above) Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s (SBMA) giant Philippine flag waves as USS Carolina, a U.S. submarine, sits on the dock of the bay at Alava Pier near building 229, headquarters of SBMA which runs the now freeport former U.S. Naval Base. (Below) The USS Carolina shortly before it left on Saturday. USS Tucson, another U.S. submarine, cancelled its scheduled port visit to Subic after scattered protests by groups opposed to U.S. presence caught media attention. SBN/VVV
Some P12 M – P15 M pesos in revenues were lost as the U.S. submarine USS Tucson, set to dock in Subic this week, cancelled in the last minute after the visit of the USS Carolina, another submarine drew scattered protests from groups opposed to US presence in the country.
Most residents of Olongapo City, as well as in most parts of Zambales & Bataan, however, favor port calls of US ships which perk up the local economy with required services and supply being provided by the locals.
“Easily, the SBMA and the local business lost up to P15 M because of the cancellation,” Jaime P. Mendoza, Jr., an executive of a shipping services investor in the Subic Freeport said.
Subic Freeport used to be Subic Naval Base, then the biggest US Military installation outside the US mainland. It was shut down in 1992 after the Philippine senate voted to reject its continued presence on Philippine territory.
Olongapo practically turned into a “ghost town” after the US pull-out that was exacerbated by the eruption of Pinatubo volcano.
The former base was converted into a freeport under the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), now a debt-ridden government agency on the verge of bankruptcy as a result of mismanagement, graft & corruption and politicking in the last 20 years. (Vic V. Vizcocho, Jr., publisher, Subic Bay News)
