Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
(UPDATE) THE United States embassy in the Philippines on Thursday confirmed the transfer of "clean fuel" from the US military facility in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to a commercial storage facility in Subic Bay, Zambales.
The embassy made the confirmation after Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa "Imee" Marcos expressed concern on the reported storage of 39 million gallons of fuel of the US Navy in Subic.
The Yosemite Trader, a US-registered tanker, was shipping fuel from the US military base at Red Hill, Pearl Harbor to the Subic facility, said US Embassy spokesman Kanishka Gangopadhyay.
"All arrangements for the transfer and storage of this fuel were made through the proper channels, using established logistics contracts with Philippine commercial entities," Gangopadhyay said.
"This is one of multiple shipments of safe, clean fuel from the Red Hill facility to other locations in the Pacific," he added.
Marcos wanted the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to explain the fuel transfer.
She said data from several international shipping trackers show that the oil cargo was loaded at Pearl Harbor on the Yosemite Trader on December 20 and entered Philippine territory on January 9.
"Subic is not an EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) site, so where in Philippine territory will millions of gallons of oil be stored?" Marcos said.
"This is not just an issue of foreign policy but of Philippine sovereignty, even environmental safety," the senator said in a statement on Wednesday.
She said the "inexplicable silence" of both Washington and Manila on the fuel shipment "only raised suspicions about the pre-positioning of military supplies in the country amid predictions of an eventual war between China and the US over Taiwan."
The Philippines in April 2023 identified four new locations to "house" US troops and equipment under the EDCA. These are in Cagayan's Naval Base Camilo Osias and Lal-lo Airport, Camp Melchor de la Cruz in Gamu, Isabela, and Balabac Island in Palawan.