Marcos OKs proposed US ammo factory, depot in Subic 

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The Philippine President says the proposed ammunition factory is part of the country’s Self-Reliant Defense Program

MANILA, Philippines — A United States plan to set up an ammunition production and storage facility in Subic Bay had been “decided a long time ago” and is part of the Philippine efforts to be more self-reliant when it comes to defense. 

“Tinutulungan tayo ng mga Amerikano sa SRDP natin, our Self-Reliant Defense Program. That’s really something that we were going to do anyway. Kahit wala tayong katulong, gagawin talaga natin ‘yun. And they have offered to help. So, we will do that,” said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a press briefing on Wednesday, July 23 (July 22 in the Philippines) shortly after he met with US President Donald Trump in the White House. 

(The Americans are helping us with our Self-Reliant Defense Program… so even if we did not get help, we’d be doing this anyway.) 

“That had been decided… almost a year ago. We decided to — we already had decided,” said Marcos.

Marcos was asked about a US Congress order for several US agencies to check “the feasibility of establishing a joint ammunition manufacturing and storage facility” at what was once a sprawling US naval base in Subic. 

The US Congressional committee on appropriations, in its report, said it was “concerned with the lack of a forward-staged ammunition manufacturing facility in the Indo-Pacific.” 

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. had earlier said that while he was aware of the proposal, it had yet to reach his desk. 

In November 2024, Marcos signed into law the SRDP Revitalization Act, which “aims to develop the country’s defense industry.”

The US, during the Manila visit of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March 2025, promised to “prioritize bilateral defense industrial cooperation.” 

The two nations are treaty-allies, bound by at least three agreements including the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). – Rappler.com