By Junex Doronio
MANILA — No worries, it’s just clean fuel and a commercial transaction not connected with preparations for a possible US-China war over Taiwan.
This is the gist of the United States Embassy’s confirmation on Thursday about the reported shipment of fuel from Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to a commercial storage facility in Subic Bay.
Earlier, presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos sounded an alarm that the supposed silence of the two countries raised suspicions about the alleged prepositioning of military supplies in the Philippines amid a potential conflict between the US and China over Taiwan.
“We can confirm that the Yosemite Trader, a commercial tanker, is currently in the vicinity of Subic Bay, Philippines to transfer clean fuel from the U.S. military facility at Red Hill, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to a commercial storage facility at Subic Bay,” US Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay said in a statement.
He emphasized that the transaction was made through proper channels and logistics contracts with Philippine commercial entities.
On Wednesday (January 10), Sen. Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, asked for an explanation from concerned Philippine agencies about the fuel shipment of 39 million gallons of fuel.
The Department of National Defense (DND) also confirmed the shipment, saying it was a “commercial transaction” between the US Government and Philippine companies.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar said concerned agencies should address the concerns as the fuel shipment was “administrative in nature.”
“The AFP has nothing to explain. The fuel shipment and the process that was followed by the US government, which are all administrative, did not involve the participation of the AFP,” Aguilar declared.
(el Amigo/MNM)