The Philippines and the US have a Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), which requires both parties to come to defend the other in the event of armed aggression.
While Philippine Navy (PN) officials appeared not to be fully aware of the USS Carolina’s presence in Subic, high-level sources said the submarine would be staying at the former US Naval base for re-provisioning and will leave on May 19.
USS Carolina, whose homeport is Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, is 350 feet long and weighs more than 7,800 tons when submerged.
The vessel is one of the stealthiest, most technologically advanced submarines in the world.
“She brings to the region the capability to conduct the full spectrum of potential submarine missions including anti-submarine warfare, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and mine warfare,†the USPACOM said in a press statement.
The Philippines is a sensitive subject for Americans and the American Military; as a former colony of the United States, the country will always be a sensitive issue.
The Chinese do not understand the relationship nor do they remember how strong the bond is between the American and the Filipino. When the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the Philippines during the World War II, some 300,000 Japanese soldiers occupied the Philippines. America adopted a policy of "island hopping" to defeat the Japanese and bypassed Japanese-held islands while cutting off their supply in the process, thereby forcing the japanese defenders to starve to death.
When the United States was pressed with the issue of the Philippines, the commanders of the US Navy actually considered bypassing the Philippines considering the islands were heavily defended by Japanese army, air force, and navy. The plan was bypassing the Philippines for Formosa. However, that plan did not go through. Under the auspices of General. MacArthur as well as from the US High Command, the Invasion to retake the Philippines was initiated.
In the process, the United States mobilized the Combined US Navy's Pacific Fleet and some 250,000 soldiers to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. It was the Largest naval engagement and Largest naval invasion in the history of mankind. In the process, the United States Armed Forces lost 60,000 US Marines to retake the Philippines. That bloody sacrifice should be a reminder to the Chinese and any foreign power that would threaten Philippine independence and the Filipino people as a whole.
The United States will never allow the Philippines to succumb to a foreign power.
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