CLARK FREEPORT ZONE – Former United States military servicemen have expressed elation over an agreement that allows the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to take charge of a “forgotten cemetery” here where the remains of more than 8,000 American soldiers, Filipino scouts and their dependents are buried.
The memorandum of understanding on the cemetery’s management was signed on Dec. 16 by US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg and Arnel Paciano Casanova, Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and chief executive officer, at the Department of Foreign Affairs office in Manila.
“We are very pleased that the agreement has been signed. The US and Filipino veterans interred at Clark will finally receive the care they earned and deserved,” said retired US Army 1st Sgt. John Gilbert, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2485 and chair of the Clark Veterans Cemetery (CVC).
US Senate law
In January, US President Barack Obama signed into law Senate Bill No. 2320, the Remembering America’s Forgotten Veterans Cemetery Act of 2012, which was sponsored by New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
The law directs ABMC to restore and maintain the CVC using a $5-million allotment.
In a statement, Casanova said the US government would set aside $5 million for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the 8-hectare CVC, located near the main gate of the former American military base.
“It is but fitting and honorable to remember those who have fought for our freedom, our liberty and our democracy, [and] we are honored to stand side by side with the US government in upholding these ideals,” he said.
Goldberg said the agreement would pave the way for the long-term maintenance of the cemetery.
“Many men and women have answered the call to defend the values that we cherish, and many have willingly offered their lives for the good of countless others. Those interred [at CVC] served faithfully and honorably for their countries, and their service and sacrifices will always be remembered,” he said.
Gilbert is part of a group of retired American soldiers who have urged authorities to grant the ABMC the right to administer and maintain the veterans’ cemetery.
The former servicemen had maintained the cemetery using their own funds and donations after it was abandoned by American forces in 1991.
Operator
The US military was forced to withdraw its bases here after the Philippine Senate rejected the proposed extension of the 1947 RP-US military bases agreement.
According to the US publication Military Times, the ABMC based in Arlington, Virginia, had been prepared to operate the cemetery here.
In August, Ayotte wrote US Secretary of State John Kerry, asking the State Department to complete the agreement so the commission could start taking care of the cemetery, the Times said.
“Clark Veterans Cemetery is a sacred ground and we have a solemn duty as a nation to ensure that the brave Americans buried there have the dignified and well-maintained final resting place that they deserve,” the paper quoted Ayotte as saying. Jun Malig, Inquirer Central Luzon