It’s been more than three decades since the Philippines ordered U.S. troops to withdraw from their sprawling military bases in the country, ending an era that hearkened back to America’s colonial days.
Now the man overseeing the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority — once home to Washington's biggest naval base in Asia — wants them back.
A recently revived defense agreement between the U.S. and the Philippines could "be a welcome development for us” if American forces return to Subic Bay, said Rolen Paulino, the authority’s chairman, in an interview. "When they come here they spend money, go to hotels, go to restaurants — plus tourists.”