Will the Philippines’ Subic Bay become a US naval hub once again?

Austin visited the base in Subic Bay, located in Zambales province north of Manila, as the final stop on his 11-day trip through the Indo-Pacific last week alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Austin previously visited the base in April 2023.

According to a US Department of Defence press release, Austin toured the Navy facility and several defence industrial sites on Wednesday “as a way to highlight opportunities there for defence industrial cooperation by the United States, the Philippines, and other regional allies and partners.”

Subic Bay was the site of the US’ largest overseas naval facility until Washington withdrew from its military bases in the Philippines in 1991.

Since then, both Philippine and American military forces have been utilising the 262-square-mile area to facilitate resupply, refuelling, and repair of vessels. Subic’s port facilities also support the delivery of US military equipment into the Philippines during bilateral exercises.

Austin’s visit to Subic Bay came after he and Blinken met with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro in Manila to discuss strengthening defence ties and the increasingly heated territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

While there is no legal basis for Washington to re-establish their own base at Subic Bay, analysts said that changes to existing agreements and legal frameworks could make it possible if the political will exists.

The US captured a Spanish base built on the bay in 1899 during the Philippine–American War and controlled it until 1991, when the Philippine Senate voted to reject the renewal of their Military Bases Agreement with the US over concerns about national sovereignty.

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