Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro Jr.
MANILA, Philippines — If everything goes to plan, Subic may again host a major military installation, bigger and more suitable than the space currently rented by the Philippine Navy.
The process has begun to acquire an area for a future naval base within the area covered by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), according to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr..
At Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the proposed P254.1-billion budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) for 2025, Teodoro said President Marcos had given a directive to talk to SBMA officials for the acquisition of space for use by the Philippine Navy.
P1.1-B rental
“We have identified an area which is suitable for a main operating base. We have gotten presidential approval to pursue the process of acquiring the area and we hope to have it completed by the end of 2028. And I think the area to be vacated by the Philippine Navy can be leased out to other locators without any loss of income,” Teodoro said.
Subic Bay served as a United States naval base from the American colonial period to September 1991. The US presence ended after the Philippine Senate voted to reject a new bases treaty with Washington.
As the area was transformed into an industrial, commercial and tourism hub, plans to build Philippine air and naval bases in Subic were discussed in the DND as early as 2013.
Since May 2022, the Navy has been occupying 100 hectares of a 300-ha shipyard and former facility of Hanjin Heavy Industries in Subic Bay, for a lease of P1.1 billion a year.
More FOBs lined up
Teodoro said the military needed new facilities and space for assets set to be acquired by the Navy, including 10 corvettes and frigates, by the end of 2028.
“We do not have a dockyard yet and we are busy getting a new naval dockyard and forward operating bases (FOBs),” he said.
Aside from Subic, the Navy plans to establish three more FOBs—in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
“In the future, another one (is proposed) in the eastern portion of the Philippines as a major operating base,” he added.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who presided over the budget hearing held by the finance subcommittee, expressed surprise at the P1.1-billion shipyard rental.
Possible land donation
Dela Rosa said he had spoken with SBMA officials who made a suggestion: “(They said) that instead of (the Navy) renting the Hanjin facility for P1.1 billion, they can donate another area within the SBMA for you to develop as an operating base. Maybe later, we can appropriate a huge capital outlay.”
The DND chief also said the President green-lighted the new base because “the idea of paying P1.1 billion (in rent) was contrary to his view.”
“Second, the utilization of the Philippine Navy of the Hanjin area is only 25 percent because (the rest is) not usable. But it’s a matter of urgency because Fort San Felipe and Sangley Point are not practical naval bases anymore,” he added.
“And it was built for Panamax vessels and not our naval vessel, so the dock is too big,” Teodoro said.