SUBIC BAY, Philippines  (The Adobo Chronicles® ) — Almost twenty five years ago, the Philippines expelled the United States from Subic Naval Base in Olongapo City, then the largest overseas outpost of the American military.  Riding on nationalistic and anti-colonial sentiments of the Filipinos, lawmakers closed the base and promised that Uncle Sam’s armed forces would never ever occupy and control any part of the country again.

Fast forward to 2015: the Philippines is embroiled in a major territorial dispute with giant China which has laid claim to a vast expanse of the sea west of the archipelago. It has asked the U.S. government for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund and strengthen its own military, one of the weakest in Asia, so as to be able to deal with aggressive threats from China. But so far, the Obama administration has snubbed the request because it worries that the political corruption in the Philippines could  all but divert the resources into some unauthorized use.

The Philippines is also contemplating on reopening Subic to the U.S. military.

Republican members of the U.S. Congress’ Armed Services Committee are not keen on financially or militarily supporting the Philippines either, saying that the Asian country is acting like a “prodigal son.” The congressmen said : “They kicked us out when it was convenient for them, and now they want us back because it is convenient for them.”

Since the term of President Aquino is up in 2016, it will  be up to his successor to convince the United States on the merits of reopening Subic Bay and providing hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to the Philippines.

Most Filipinos –who are devout Catholics —  are confident that just like in the biblical account of the prodigal son, the U.S. will eventually welcome back the Philippines with open arms, or in this case, the Philippines will welcome back the U.S. military to Subic Bay.