Manila: The United States has no plans to establish permanent military bases in the Philippines, the presidential palace said in response to a report suggesting that an agreement to do so had been reached.

"We are not planning to allow the United States to establish military bases similar to Clark and Subic," Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office secretary Ramon Carandang said.

Wrong information

Carandang was responding to a report published by the Washington Post that quoted an unnamed Philippine defence official as saying that the US is considering posting ships in the country's waters to counter the threat posed by China.

Clark Airbase in Pampanga and Subic Naval Base in Olongapo were once among the biggest US military facilities outside the continental United States.

The newspaper report claimed that Washington was considering "operating navy ships from the Philippines, deploying troops on a rotational basis and more frequent joint exercises".

Prior agreement

The US had a prior agreement with the Philippines to permanently base its forces in the country. However, in 1991, US forces withdrew after the Senate abrogated the US Bases Treaty.

Security and military relations between the two countries resumed in 1999 but were limited to holding joint military exercises and counter-terrorism readiness drills under the Visiting Forces Agreement.

Carandang said that while the Philippines and the United States will hold joint military exercises to improve the defence capabilities of the two countries, "none of these initiatives involve any kind of basing arrangements similar to what we had prior to 1991".

"What we're really looking at is to enhance our defence cooperation," Carandang said.

The drills seek to improve combined planning, combat readiness and interoperability and enhance security relations to respond to threats that include terrorists, pirates and smugglers, or dealing with natural disasters.

Carandang said the two sides are conducting detailed planning to ensure the success of the scheduled military exercises called ‘2012 Balikatan'.