The Philippines is a tropical archipelago of 7600 islands in Southeast Asia sandwiched between the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea. Prior to its discovery by Magellan in 1521 and claiming it as a  colony of Spain, the indigenous population was compromised of Austronesians, Negritos, and emigrated merchants from nearby regions of China and Indonesia. With Spanish colonialism came the Roman Catholic missionaries making the Philippines one of the most R.C. countries in the world. Roughly 80% of their population today is Roman Catholic.  Tagalog is the national language, where one can hear a host of Spanish-like words integrated into its unique structure. Teddy Roosevelt terminated Spanish rule in 1898 when he sent the US Navy, as Assistant Naval Secretary under President Mckinley, into Manila Bay sinking all of their wooden hulled ships, and became the U.S.’s most distant territory. Throughout Spanish and American colonialism, Luzon and many of the southern islands experienced uprisings, including the Philippine-American War, from the indigenous peoples. The history of Spanish and American colonialism is a sad truth of the colonial era, however the Philippine people proved themselves to be resilient survivors, and ultimately found a way to peacefully coexist with Americans and together fight the Japanese invasion 1941-1945. A term better describing the American territorial presence was that of a “Protectorate”, whereby the Americans and Filipinos cooperated in with mutual interests.  Current population estimated at 116M upon a total land mass the approximate size of Arizona.

As an American territory at the turn of the 20th century, military strategists recognized the strategic importance of the Philippines. It’s proximity to the Straights of Malacca gave purpose to maintaining open shipping lanes via the adjacent Naval presence in the Philippines. Further, Japanese expansionist ambitions in China, Korea and Taiwan were thought to be kept in check by a large military presence. Hence, the huge Naval base at Subic Bay was built, although due to Asiatic treaties, the US could not at the time facilitate dry dock and repair capabilities for warships. The US Navy’s primary Naval Base was at Cavite, Luzon. Additionally, the Army Air Force constructed Clark field, adjacent to Angeles City. There were numerous other coastal defensive installations throughout Luzon, Mindanao, and the Visayas, and notably the Army base at the mouth of Manila Bay, Corregidor.