page_title: Port of Subic Bay
section_title: US withdrawal
hierarchical_section_title: Port of Subic Bay / History / US withdrawal
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Marines raise the American flag as their Philippine counterparts raise their ensign during morning colors at the start of the base deactivation ceremony for Naval Station, Subic Bay. U.S. Naval personnel are relinquishing control of both Subic Bay and Naval Air Station, Cubi Point, to the Philippine government and Subic Bay will now be recognized as Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Headquarters.Location: NAVAL STATION, SUBIC BAY, LUZON PHILIPPINES (PHL)
context_page_description: The Port of Subic Bay is in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, the former U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, on Subic Bay in the Philippines. It is one of the busiest, largest, historical and most important of ports in the Philippines. The Port is operated and managed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
  The port has a capacity to handle 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers and in 2016 handles less than 200,000 TEU containers.
context_section_description: In December 1991, the two governments were again in talks to extend the withdrawal of American forces for three years but this broke down as the United States refused to spell out in detail their withdrawal plans or say if nuclear weapons were kept on base; nuclear weapons were forbidden on Philippine soil. Finally, on December 27, President Corazon Aquino, who fought to delay the pullout to cushion the country's battered economy, issued a formal notice for the U.S. to leave what had been the U.S.'s largest overseas defense facility after Clark Air Base was closed, by the end of 1992.
  During 1992, tons of material including drydocks and equipment, were shipped to various Naval Stations. Ship-repair and maintenance yards as well as supply depots were relocated to other Asian countries including Japan and Singapore. Finally, on November 24, 1992, the American Flag was lowered in Subic for the last time and the last 1,416 Sailors and Marines at Subic Bay Naval Base left by plane from NAS Cubi Point and by the USS Belleau Wood. This withdrawal marked the first time since the 16th Century that no foreign military forces were present in the Philippines.
caption: The American Flag is lowered and Philippine flag is raised during turnover of Naval Station Subic Bay.
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