Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. (Photo from the The official Facebook page of the Philippine Department of National Defense)

MANILA – National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday has expressed openness to the possibility of a US ammunition production and storage facility being established at the former American base in Subic Bay, Zambales.

While he has not yet received any formal proposal, he believes such a development would be beneficial to the Philippines.

“Any production entity which would be of benefit to the Philippines, not only in terms of our resilience, but improving, giving employment, and other technological transfers, that might be encouraged,” he said in a press briefing at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

He said such a proposal is likely considering that the Philippines and the United States are “like-minded and treaty partners”.

Earlier reports said US lawmakers are looking at the possibility of establishing these facilities at Subic Bay, citing the “lack of forward-staged ammunition manufacturing” in the Indo-Pacific Region.

With this development, the US House Committee on Appropriations ordered its Department of Defense, State Department, and the International Development Finance Corporation to assess the feasibility of establishing such facilities in Subic Bay. /gsg