World Notes the Philippines

For more than a year, U.S. and Filipino negotiators had wrangled over details of an agreement that would allow American forces to remain at the huge military installations of Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air Base. A few weeks ago, both teams announced that a new accord, permitting U.S. forces to stay after the old agreement expires on Sept. 16, was "within reach." But then Mount Pinatubo, a volcano that had been dormant for 600 years, erupted and accomplished what Filipino nationalists had failed to do since independence: force the U.S. military to abandon Clark, which is eight miles east of the cone. Both sides admit the explosions threw negotiations into limbo.

American representatives deny they will use the catastrophe to drive a tougher bargain. But U.S. Defense Secretary Richard Cheney has questioned "the cost of our obligations to the Philippines should we continue to use these facilities." That could bode ill for Manila, which had hoped for hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance in return for renewal of U.S. base rights.