Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 16, 1990 TAG: 9005160024
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANILA, PHILIPPINES LENGTH: Medium
Also Tuesday, President Corazon Aquino's government formally told the United States that the lease on the six U.S. military bases here expires in September 1991 and cannot be extended.
The move was largely symbolic, and U.S. and Filipino officials said it does not rule out a new accord.
Police arrested about 50 people Tuesday after they organized a motorcade to demand the bases be closed.
In a statement to news organizations, the central Luzon command of the New People's Army said it "punished" the two Americans - airmen John H. Raven, 19, of Delta Junction, Alaska, and James C. Green, 20, of Craig, Colo. - because of U.S. "aggression and intervention in the internal affairs of our country."
The two were shot Sunday with .45-caliber pistols at close range while waiting for a ride near Clark Air Base, 50 miles north of Manila. A companion, Airman 1C Randall Moore, escaped uninjured.
"This incident serves as a warning to the U.S. government and its local puppet regime," the statement said. "We will not stop until abuses by American officers and soldiers have ceased. We will not stop until all U.S. bases and all American occupational soldiers are kicked out of our country."
U.S. authorities banned the 40,000 troops, Defense Department civilians and military dependents from leaving their bases in the wake of the killing. Those living off-post were ordered to stay home when off duty.
The statement did not mention the May 4 killing of U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Fredette near Subic, 50 miles west of Manila. U.S. officials believe the rebels were also responsible for killing Fredette.
The Communist rebels fighting the Philippine government for more than 21 years have repeatedly threatened to kill Americans.
In 1989, rebels gunned down U.S. Army Col. James "Nick" Rowe, a decorated Vietnam War veteran. In October 1987, rebels killed two enlisted airmen and a retired U.S. Air Force sergeant near Clark.
U.S. and Philippine officials began the second day of talks in Manila to decide whether to enter formal negotiations on a new bases agreement.
Although there is growing opposition in the Philippines to the U.S. bases, many Filipinos support them because they pump an estimated $1 billion into the economy every year.
by CNB