CLARK FREEPORT – US Pres. Obama is expected to sign soon a law putting under the “responsibility” of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) the 20-acre Clark cemetery in this freeport which used to be a base of the US Air Force in the country.
This, after the US Congress in the last minute signed into law “The Dignified Burial of Veterans Act of 2012.”
Dennis Wright, chairman of the Clark Cemetery Restoration Association (CCRA) based here, said the US Congress passed it “just in the nick of time” at about 7:23 p.m. last Dec. 30 (Dec. 31 in the Philippines).
“It was the last day that it could have passed. We now have enabling legislation that has passed both the Senate and the House, this is truly wonderful news,” Wright told US veteran expatriates in nearby Angeles City who had been maintaining the Clark cemetery since the US military abandoned it in 1991.
He said that an agreement on the law would be worked out by the US and Philippine governments to implement to law.
In an interview, Lt. Guy Hilbero, executive officer of the 26th US Cavalry and Philippine Scouts Memorial Regiment based here, said he expected Obama to sign the bill into law “soon.”
“It’s an admission of the responsibility of the US government to maintain the cemetery and provide funds for this,” he said.
The cemetery contains mostly the remains of US war veterans before World War II, dating back even to the 19th century. It is the burial site for at least 2,250 members of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and Philippine Scouts, a branch of the Army during American occupation of the Philippines.
Some of the remains belonged to veterans of the Spanish-American war at the turn of the 20th century, as well as veterans of the wars in Korean, Vietnam and Iraq.
The cemetery was abandoned when the Americans permanently left Clark in 1991. Thick volcanic debris buried it when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the same year.
In 1994, Americans belonging to the local VFW negotiated with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) which now runs this freeport, for them to rehabilitate and manage the cemetery from donations.
Addressing US was veterans, Wright said “I wanted to immediately share this fantastic news with all of you as it is such a wonderful and fitting end to 2012. It gives all of us cause to reflect what we as a group, through our Clark Veterans Cemetery Restoration Association, have been able to accomplish.”
Wright said the bill “will soon be sent on to the President (Obama) for his signature that tasks the American Battle Monuments Commission to assume responsibility for this century old and historic US Military Cemetery after an Agreement is made between the Government of the Philippines and the United States.
“I have spoken with representatives of both governments who have assured me that once enabling US legislation was passed that such an agreement will now be possible and forthcoming,” he said.
