'Clandestine' fuel transfer from US to Subic might raise regional tension -- groups

From the Manila Bulletin (Jan 12, 2024): 'Clandestine' fuel transfer from US to Subic might raise regional tension -- groups (By MARTIN SADONGDONG)

The spoiled transfer of 39 million gallons of fuel from a United States military facility to Subic Bay, Zambales stirred controversy as progressive groups sought the Philippines and US governments to explain the "clandestine" work, fearing that it that might raise regional tension.

Activist group "Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan" (SPARK) and progressive coalition, "Stop the War", said that the covert transfer of fuel from Red Hill -- a US military facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii -- to a storage facility in Subic Bay Freeport, a former US naval base, using commercial tanker Yosemite Trader reeks of "militarization" in the Southeast Asian Sea.

"This is not something that we can say is just a fuel transfer. This is, for us, a fuel transfer that is curiously enough to fuel a fleet, and so we want explanations immediately from the government of the Philippines and the United States. What is this 39 million gallons of naval fuel for?" said John Lazaro, national coordinator of SPARK, in a statement on Thursday, Jan. 11, following a joint press conference with Stop the War.

"Because if we are left in the dark, we are only left to make the logical conclusion that this 39 million gallons of naval fuel is going to be used to intensify militarization in the Southeast Asian Sea," he added.

As this developed, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) reportedly said that Yosemite Trader has already cancelled its application for entry in the country.

Despite this, SPARK and Stop the War said that the transfer of military fuel must still be explained to the public by both governments.

According to Lazaro, the fuel transfer from the Red Hill facility in Hawaii to Subic was already reported by Joint Task Force Red Hill through the websites of the US Marines and the US Indo-Pacific Command.

"The more militarization in the Southeast Asia Sea, the more tensions will rise, the more we will see the chance of conflict escalating in our own backyard – and who is going to be at the frontlines of this conflict? None other than the Republic of the Philippines. And who is going to face the brunt of the costs of this war – not just financial, but also physical, environmental, social, generational? It is going to be the citizens of the Republic of the Philippines," he said.

Tension between the Philippines and China remains high due to overlapping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

This was further intensified by the power struggle between China and the US over the Taiwan conflict, with groups fearing that the Philippines might be caught in the crossfire if the tension escalates into a full blown war.

The issue came to fore when Senator Imee Marcos asked the Department of National Defense (DND) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to explain the fuel transfer as it involved the US military.

The DND confirmed that the shipment of fuel is part of "regular commercial transactions" between the US government and Philippine companies.

Meanwhile, the AFP distanced itself in the issue, saying that the military had nothing to do with the fuel shipment as the process followed by both countries was administrative in nature and they were not involved in it.

https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/11/clandestine-fuel-transfer-from-us-to-subic-might-raise-regional-tension-groups