Del Carmen: a sugar mill, an airfield and a war

How a 1920s sugar mill and a 1941 airstrip in Del Carmen put Floridablanca on the map, and became Basa Air Base.

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Discover Pampanga Editors · October 2026

In the 1920s a sugar mill rose in Del Carmen, on Floridablanca's eastern side. The Pampanga Sugar Mill, known as PASUMIL, became one of the country's major sugar producers.

An airstrip in a hurry

In mid-November 1941, weeks before war reached the Philippines, American engineers began building an airfield nearby, Del Carmen Field. It was never finished. One squadron flew from it, and other pilots used it as an emergency strip after the attacks on Clark and Iba.

Japanese forces took the field in late December 1941 and used it as an auxiliary base. After US forces cleared the area in January 1945, they enlarged it for heavy bombers.

Basa Air Base

After the war the field passed to the Philippines. Fighter squadrons were activated there in 1947, and it became the home of the 5th Fighter Wing. It is named after Cesar Basa, one of the pioneer fighter pilots of the Philippine Air Force, and was once called Floridablanca Airfield.

Basa Air Base remains an active military installation, so it is not a place to visit. You will pass its gate on the way to the Palakol Summer Place.