AFP not involved in fuel shipment from Pearl Harbor to Subic Bay
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has no involvement in the shipment of 39 million gallons of fuel from the United States Navy base in Pearl Harbor to Subic Bay.
This was confirmed by AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. after Senator Imee Marcos urged the military and the Department of National Defense to explain the transfer of the huge volume of fuel from Hawaii to the Philippines.
"The AFP was not involved there but we saw the documents that support the importation or the transfer of this gasoline into the country and we saw that the AFP has no involvement on this," Brawner said in an ambush interview with reporters in Taguig City on Thursday.
In a statement, Defense Department spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the transfer of fuels were made through "regular commercial transactions."
"The shipment of fuel from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA to a storage facility in the Subic Bay Freeport in the Philippines via the commercial tanker Yosemite Trader is part of regular commercial transactions between the US Government and Philippine companies," he said.
US Embassy Press Attache and spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay confirmed that the fuel transferred to a commercial storage facility at Subic Bay was just one of multiple shipments of safe, clean fuel from the Red Hill facility to other locations in the Pacific.
“We can confirm that the Yosemite Trader, a commercial tanker, is currently in the vicinity of Subic Bay, Philippines in order to transfer clean fuel from the US military facility at Red Hill, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to a commercial storage facility at Subic Bay," he said.
"All arrangements for the transfer and storage of this fuel were made through the proper channels, using established logistics contracts with Philippine commercial entities," he added.
Brawner noted that based on the documents that support the importation, the transfer of fuels by the US was coordinated through other concerned government agencies of the Philippines.
"In fact there are government agencies that are involved, we will not say what government agencies were involved here but then again if we will be called we are ready to explain our side that the AFP was not involved in the transaction,"
Brawner explained that the AFP were only informed and asked by the United States for permission if the logistics or materiel they bring into the country are defense related equipment including weapons and others.
"Yes (for defense resources), direct items for instance that come into the country are given notice to the AFP, so the entry of equipment, in fact they request permission for bringing in of these items," he said. Robina Asido/DMS
