Sleepy towns in the Philippines will host US forces returning to counter China threats

(13 May 2024)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Santa Ana, Philippines - 6 May 2024
1. Various of U.S. Chinook helicopters landing near Santa Ana Cagayan beach
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Manila, Philippines - 10 May 2024
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Gordon, former Philippines Senator: ++STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT/PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOTS 3 TO 7++
"Whenever a military power leaves a vacuum occurs and soon enough the Chinese were taking over Scarborough shoals driving our fishermen away, taunting and intimidating the Chinese, they were ramming Japanese boats in the Senkaku Islands. There is a lot of tensions out there. I said my God, I'm being proven right. Our Navy was all coast and no guard. Our airforce was all air and no force. Our fishermen were being pushed around."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Santa Ana, Philippines - 6 May 2024
3. Fishing boat
4. Chinook helicopter landing
5. Helicopters at military base
6. Wide of military base
7. U.S. serviceman speaking
STORYLINE:
The far-flung coastal town of Santa Ana in the northeastern tip of the Philippine mainland has long been known by tourists for its beaches, waterfalls, fireflies and a few casinos.
But that’s changing after the laid-back town of about 35,000 people, which still has no traffic light, became strategically important to America.
The longtime treaty allies, United States and the Philippines, have identified Santa Ana in northern Cagayan province as one of nine mostly rural areas where rotating batches of American forces could encamp indefinitely.
They could also store their weapons and equipment on local military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Thousands of U.S. forces withdrew from two huge Navy and Air Force bases in the Philippines in the early 1990s at the end of the Cold War, ending nearly a century of American military presence in the country.
In recent years, Washington has been reinforcing an arc of military alliances in Asia to counter an increasingly assertive China, which it now regards as its greatest security challenge.
That dovetails with Philippine efforts to bolster its external defences after an alarming spate of territorial hostilities with Beijing in the South China Sea that started last year.
The high seas confrontations have injured several Filipino navy personnel, damaged their boats and strained diplomatic ties.
The remote town of Santa Ana is caught in the geo-political rivalry between Washington and Beijing because of its strategic location.
It lies across a sea border from Taiwan, the self-governing island that China regards as a renegade province to be reclaimed by force if necessary.
The U.S. has vowed to defend the territory.
AP video shot by Joeal Calupitan and Vicente Gonzales
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