Manila:
A US destroyer docked at Manila Bay on Monday, increasing to more than 70 the number of ships from the United States which arrived in the country, most of which docked at the former US Naval Base in Olongapo, Zambales in northern Luzon.
The USS Gridley (DDG-101), an Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyer, a part of the US Pacific Fleet based in California’s San Diego, arrived at Manila Bay on Monday for a routine port of call, including replenishment of supply and for its crew to have rest and relaxation, the United States Embassy said in a statement.
It is the fourth US destroyer that docked on Philippine shores. Previously, USS Cowpens (CG-63) and USS McCampbell (DDG-85) escorted the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group (CVN-73) in Manila; the destroyer USS Milius also visited the country.
Other ships such as USS Bonehomme Richard, a landing assault ship and submarine tender USS Frank Cable also made port of calls. Four nuclear-powered submarines – USS Olympia (SSN-717), USS North Carolina, USS Hawaii, and USS Louisville (SSN 724) also visited the Philippines.
They belong to the US Pacific Command (USPACOM).
Sources said before 2012 ended, 70 US Navy ships visited Subic, the site of the former US base in Olongapo. In 2011, 55 US ships arrived in the Philippines; in 2010, 51 ships.
Every year, more than 100 US planes use the runway of the former US Clark Air Base in Angeles, Pampanga, also in central, data showed.
Analysts said the increased US military presence of China is meant to contain China’s flexing of military might in the South China Sea.
The Philippines and Vietnam have had encounters with China’s presence in the contested sea lane.
China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim the whole of the South China Sea, based on their historical rights. Brunei, Malaysia, and Philippines claim some parts of the Spratly Archipelago in the South China Sea, on the strength of the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea which grants countries 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone started from their shores.
