SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines—Nine US Navy ships
scheduled to arrive here this month until December have decided to cancel their
port calls due to “anti-American sentiments” in the country after a US Marine
was implicated in the slaying of a Filipino transgender in Olongapo City last
month, a group of business owners said.
The Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC) said
the cancellation disappointed local businessmen, who had been preparing for the
“liberty” (rest and recreation) of American troops.
“This anticipated visit could have meant a better
Christmas for the business owners and their employees…. But after the
cancellation, one can only imagine the disappointed faces,” the SBFCC said in a
statement sent to the Inquirer on Sunday.
The US Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs on
Sunday night couldn’t immediately confirm the cancellation of the port calls by
the nine US Navy ships in Subic.
Kurt Hoyer, US Embassy first secretary and press attaché,
told the Inquirer that he still had to check the information.
In a separate phone interview, DFA spokesman and Assistant
Secretary Charles Jose also said he had to verify whether the department had
information about the cancellation of the port calls.
However, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chair Roberto
Garcia confirmed the cancellation of the port calls.
Citing a report from Global Terminals and Development
Inc., which operates ports here and provides service to US Navy ships, Garcia
on Sunday said four ships were supposed to visit this free port this month
while five were expected in December.
Garcia said the port visits were “put on hold until
further notice.”
But he said two US Navy ships—USS Pecos and USNS Mary
Sears—were scheduled to arrive here next week for emergency repairs.
The SBFCC said the death of transgender Jeffrey
“Jennifer” Laude not only caused a social and political impact, “but an
economic chain reaction as well.”
Laude was found dead in a motel in Olongapo City on the
night of Oct. 11, a few minutes after her American companion left.
Her companion, who was later identified by witnesses as
US Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, is facing a murder complaint filed by
Laude’s family in the Olongapo Prosecutor’s Office.
Pemberton is held in a detention facility jointly managed
by the American and Philippine governments at the Armed Forces of the Philippines
headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
The SBFCC said it sympathized with the Laude family and
had joined calls that justice be served.
But Laude’s death, it said, brought about losses and
unrealized income for many establishments in the Subic Bay area.
“On the other side of things, businesses in the city and
in the bay [area] are also restless. But more than being twitchy, these
businesses are suffering,” the statement said.
It said businessmen here found it unfair that there was
an impression that people in this free port and nearby Olongapo City were not
receptive to visits by US troops.
“We also want the US Navy to know that they are still
welcome to visit Subic Bay and enjoy the culture and beauty of our natural
flora and fauna, and the festivities that we offer,” the SBFCC said.
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