U.S. to Rebuild Bases, Admiral Says

The United States plans to rebuild its bases in the Philippines and will return evacuated dependents next month unless the threat from Mt. Pinatubo increases, the senior U.S. officer here said Wednesday.

However, officials at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said a new lava dome appears to be forming in the volcano that could lead to more big eruptions, although they do not expect a repeat of the huge eruptions in mid-June.

Rear Adm. Thomas Mercer, commander of the Subic Bay Naval Base, told reporters that 700 Navy construction workers will arrive in July to rebuild Subic and Clark Air Base. He said cleanup operations already are under way and power and water are slowly being restored.

“My mission is to put it back together exactly the way it was,” he said.

In Washington, officials said the United States wants to retain the bases and that talks on a new lease will resume in Manila next month. The lease covering Clark, Subic and four smaller bases expires Sept. 16. The talks had bogged down before the eruptions, on the issues of compensation and the length of the extension.