World Notes the Philippines

Mount Pinatubo, the volcano that covered much of Luzon with dust and ash last month, also proved a kind of mediator in the protracted bargaining over the future of U.S. bases there. The Philippine government had been demanding direct compensation of $400 million annually for a seven-year lease extension on Clark Air Base and the huge U.S. Navy facilities at Subic Bay. Washington was offering $360 million a year and wanted an eight- to 10-year lease.

Negotiations wound up quickly last week after Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney announced that the U.S. was no longer interested in Clark because it would cost too much to repair the damage done by the volcano. The next day Manila agreed to a 10-year extension of the American lease on Subic Bay for an annual payment of $203 million, beginning in 1993.

Even so, that may not be the end of it. The deal must be approved by two- thirds of the Philippine Senate. Jovito Salonga, president of the Senate, opposes any extension and predicts that ratification of the pact "will be difficult."