SUBIC BAY, Philippines -- More than 5,000 people rallied peacefully in front of a former U.S. Naval base here Wednesday to protest a Supreme Court ruling against a local mayor considered crucial to efforts to turn the facility into a free port.
The high court ruled Tuesday Olongapo Mayor Richard Gordon must choose between his elected political post and his position as head of a group converting the former U.S. Subic Bay Naval Base.
Gordon said earlier, if forced to choose, he would keep his job as mayor, amove that could dampen investor confidence in the fledgling free port.
Protesters began gathering at the main gate to the Subic base early Wednesday and vowed they would stay there until they heard from Gordon, who was in Japan promoting the base to potential investors.
Some waved large banners, reading 'fight on Olongapo' while others gave speeches in support of Gordon.
'We will not allow the Supreme Court to oust Mayor Gordon,' protester Desie Yamba told United Press International. 'It is not fair. Other officials hold two posts, why can't he?'
Olongapo police spokesperson, Ramil Quinta, estimated there were more than 5,000 protesters, most of them students or volunteer base workers.
The last U.S. troops pulled out of Subic in November 1992, after Manila rejected a new lease offer that would have kept them there until 2001.
The withdrawal cost the Philippines about 35,000 on-base jobs and an estimated 4 percent of its $46 billion gross national product.
Gordon was appointed chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority last year by President Fidel Ramos and has been the driving force behind efforts to turn the sprawling base into a regional transhipment center.
Subic boasts some of the most modern infrastructure in the Philippines, including an airport, sophisticated telecommunications facilities and dozens of office and residential buildings.
Thousands of potential investors have toured the facility, 50 miles northwest of Manila.
A Taiwanese group has pledged to build a $41 million, 300-hectare industrial park at Subic.
But the largest deal formally signed so far is a 25-year, $100 million lease of Subic's petroleum, oil and lubricant depot by Coastal Petroleum Corp. of the United States.
