By Henry Empeño | February 5, 2025 (Updated)

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – This former American military base is poised to be a staging area for the United States Marine Corps (USMC) once again, as the maritime land force unit opened a logistics facility for Indo-Pacific region operations here on Tuesday.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said in a statement late Tuesday, Feb. 4, that SBMA officials and U.S. Marine Corps Col. Luke Watson formally launched a USMC “storage” in a 5,300-sqm. warehouse at the former Naval Supply Depot.

Watson, who is commanding officer of the Blount Island Command, a USMC support facility based in Jacksonville, Florida, said the Subic site will enable them to preposition equipment for humanitarian aid and disaster relief equipment that will be utilized for Indo-Pacific region operations. 

“This is one of our ashore sites for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, as part of the Marine Corps’ global prepositioning network,” Watson was quoted as saying. “There will be no ammunition (to be stored here), just motor transportation, communication, and engineering,” Watson added. 

The Blount Island Command under Watson is the hub for Marine Corps prepositioning programs, including afloat squadrons and ashore sites, and supports Marine expeditionary forces worldwide.

Prior to the opening, Watson discussed Subic port operations with SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose Aliño on Feb. 3 at the SBMA main office here.

A post on the social media page of the Blount Island Command showed Watson and Aliño in a meeting, along with other SBMA and USMC officials. The Blount Island Command said the visit was “to discuss efficiencies needed for a sustainable logistics node.”

“Blount Island Command plans to stage humanitarian aid and disaster relief equipment for the Indo-Pacific region. Part of the Marine Corps’ global prepositioning network, the ashore program will include engineering, communications and motor transportation assets,” the post also said.

According to a senior SBMA official, the operation of the USMC logistics node in Subic is undertaken under a leasing agreement between Amerasia International Terminal Services, Inc. (AITSI), an integrated cargo handling company that owns the warehouse, and Anglicotech, which will operate the logistics facility.

Anglicotech, which is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, describes itself as a veteran-owned business serving customers from the US East Coast to the West Coast, to Japan and the Philippines for defense supply chain management.

The SBMA official clarified that the USMC logistics node was not a part of any military deal between the Philippines and the United States. The two countries signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in 2014, which allows U.S. forces to pre-position and store defense materiel, equipment, and supplies in agreed locations in the country.

Subic, which was transformed into a special economic zone after the American pullout in 1992, is not among the identified EDCA sites that include nine air bases and naval stations in the country where the U.S. has overall operation control.

Aliño, meanwhile, has expressed full support for the ingress of USMC equipment in Subic Bay, describing the hosting of the marine facility as “a great stride for the Subic Bay Freeport in assisting foreign allies in their thrust to provide humanitarian aid and relief assistance.”

He reaffirmed that Subic Bay is a strategic area for launching operations in the Indo-Pacific Region, “as the area has become the logistics hub for maritime and aviation industry in the country.”

Subic once hosted a USMC barracks at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Cubi Point when it served as an American military facility until November 24, 1992.

At the height of the Vietnam War, the US Marine Corps deployed troops from Subic Bay after training here in amphibious warfare, small-unit exercises, roads and bridges construction, supply replenishment, and jungle environmental survival. 

TOP PHOTO: U.S. Marine Corps Col. Luke Watson visits the USMC logistics facility at the Naval Supply Depot in the Subic Bay Freeport on Feb. 4, along with SBMA Director Cecille Bitare and other SBMA and USMC officials (SBMA photo)