US Servicemen to RP: We'll Behave
Today
(July 23, 1999)
THE United States started reestablishing its military ties with the Philippines with the arrival yesterday of USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US Seventh Fleet. The ship commander assured local officials that the crew has been ordered to behave while on port call.
"We will be good guests and we take very seriously our, responsibility to be good guests in coming to the Philippines. We appreciate your hosting us," Vice Admiral Walter Doran, commander of the US Seventh Fleet told reporters during a briefing on board the ship.
He said the servicemen will conduct themselves well.
"The US Navy has also evolved a great deal over the last decade. Since we
closed our bases here, the demographics of our ranks have changed markedly,"
Doran said. "The sailors serving
in today's Navy are on average a little older. The are better educated. They are
more likely to get married and to have a family."
He added:" And they are well behaved. I think that will be apparent to you as you meet them on the ship this Morning, as you see them around your city during the next few days. They are the real ambassadors of American goodwill, and they will be pleased to show you how happy and how proud they are to be visiting the Republic of the Philippines.
USS Blue Ridge docked at pier 15 of Manila's South Harbor and its crew was greeted by Filipino Officials and United States Embassy representatives.
Dran said that while in port, the officers and crew will go sight-seeing and shop around Manila. The servicemen were given a curfew of 2 a.m. but they will remain on "official duty status" whether on liberty or off duty, which would mean that they are covered by the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement and are immune from arrest by Philippine authorities.
He said USS Blue Ridge is the first US vessel to visit Manila after the approval of the VFA on May 27 and reestablishes the post-bases relationship with the Philippines.
"Despite lingering, suspicion by some that the US is seeking to reestablish a military foothold, the era of US bases is over. We seek to develop the defense relationship in ways at a pace comfortable to the Philippines," he said.
He said the VFA allows the US to work more closely with the Armed Forces to "revitalize military-to-military relations," that will expand defense cooperation like personnel exchanges, training, joint exercises like Balikatan and ship visits.
"The relationship between our two navies and our two nations is one that will contribute significantly to regional security in the years ahead," he said.
He said the US will continue to explore ways to enhance its alliance with the Philippines and will continue to do so to promote the two countries' security interests.
"This valuable partnership must continue to developed to ensure continued regional stability and to enable all sides to address a range of security interests, including drug trafficking, terrorism, environmental degradation and weapons proliferation," he said.
The last US Navy ship to visit Manila was USS Fife on October 1996. USS Blue Ridge is commanded by Capt. David Ziemba and is deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. It has a crew of about 1,000 including 225 sailors and Marines under the US seventh Fleet that is commanded by Doran.
Incoming Senate President Blas Ople said visit the Blue Ridge has "nothing to do" with rising tension between Manila and Beijing over th disputed Spratlye archipelago in the South China Sea. Ople said the arrival of Blue Ridge signals the normalized relations between the Philippines and the US.
DIANA MENDOZA
Reporter
With B. Fernandez
