NEWSFLASH

---

GENSAN MAYOR DENIES U.S. BASE YARN

General Santos City, Oct. 20, 1997 - Mayor Rosalita Nunez has denied that there are plans to build US military facilities in this city or anywhere else in southern Mindanao.

"Everybody knows that the US is cutting down its military budget and is pulling out some of its bases, so why should they construct another base here?" asked Mor Nunez.

The mayor admitted that the US is investing in the South Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat- Sarangani-General Santos (Sosksargen) area, but there are heavy investments from other countries such as Australia, Japan, Canada and several European countries.

"Does that mean those countries are also putting up bases here?" she asked.

Mayor Nunez explained that foreign governments' development aid is more a dictate of developing potential markets for their products than of putting up military bases which, she pointed out, are always costly ventures with little profit involved.

---