With a major joint exercise in the Philippines underway, liberty is all but secured for the more than 6,000 troops involved.
Liberty policy has been tight in the Philippines since the October killing of Jennifer Laude, allegedly at the hands of Marine PFC Joseph Pemberton, who is on trial for the slaying. the crime.
The current policy in place for Balikatan 2015 — the name of the exercise means "shoulder-to-shoulder" in Tagalog — limits sailors, Marines, soldiers and airmen service members to eating at restaurants inside their hotels or within easy walking distance.
Bars and nightclubs? Out of the question, according to U.S. Pacific Command, which set and is enforcing the policy.
PACOM spokesman Maj. David Eastburn said in an email that "there is no liberty of any kind in the Philippines" beyond command sponsored activities, prohibiting activities like shopping or seeing a movie.
Experts say that the strict liberty policy during Balikatan isn't just about the Laude slayingmurder, but is only the latest tension point between the former U.S. colony and the U.S. military, both of which are pursuing a closer military alliance. which is only the latest tension point between . The Philippines was a U.S. territory until 1946 when it was granted independence.
Memories of U.S. colonization and decades of tension between the Philippines and the U.S. military have laid the groundwork for the dicey political situation and the resulting liberty restrictions, said Jan van Tol, a retired captain and analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
"There was a great deal of tension that built up between the U.S. and various parties in the Philippines," Van Tol said. "There was a sense that U.S. service members were exploiting the locals. … Eventually that led to the U.S. being forced out of Clark and Subic in 1992."
But nerves in the Philippines have remained raw among some, and incidents such as the Laude death murder dredge up renew old resentments anew, he said.
Bryan Clark, a retired Navy commander also with CSBA, said those sensitivities are still alive and well.
"When we left it was tense, the Philippine people had had enough of the United States," he said. "Today the Philippine people are much more supportive of U.S. forces being there … but the people who were rallying for the United States to leave in 1992 are all still there."
The rise of a more assertive China, which is locked in several territorial disputes with the Philippines over island territories off the Philippine coast, has sparked a renewed interest in having U.S. forces back at bases like Clark and Subic Bay.
But it's not just the standoff with China that has prompted the Philippines to soften toward the U.S. A robust U.S. response to Typhoon Haiyan, the 2013 storm that devastated large parts of the Philippines, also helped heal the fractious relationship with the longtime U.S. ally.
But After with an agreement signed last year that allows U.S. forces to use Philippine military facilities, a signature achievement for the Obama administration's pivot to Asia, both sides are treading lightly.
The strict liberty policy, Clark said, means the U.S. is hedging against another high-profile incident that would antagonize Filipinos who oppose a robust U.S. presence there.
"It's to make sure that there are mno events that would derail their attempts to increase U.S. presence there," Clark said, "a preventative measure designed to minimize risk when we have these larger strategic goals to pursue."
Exercise Balikatan is coming at a time of rising tension between China and its neighbors over its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago, which lies off the coasts of Malaysia and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Analysts believe the Chinese government is seeking to expand its exclusive rights to resources, including fisheries and mineral deposits.
About 11,000 U.S., Philippine and Australian forces are participating in the exercise.
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
