wɪð maɪndˈoːɹoʊ ˈaɪlənd ɔːlɹˌɛdi ɪn ˈælaɪd hˈændz sˈɪns sˈɪkstiːn dᵻsˈɛmbɚ nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈoːɹɾi fˈoːɹ ænd ðə kæmpˈeɪn fɚðə ɹᵻkˈæptʃɚɹ ʌv lˈuːzɑːn ɔːlɹˌɛdi ɪn fˈʊl swˈɪŋ, ðɪ ɐmˈɛɹɪkənz wˈɔntᵻd tʊ ɪstˈæblɪʃ ɐnˈʌðɚ bˈeɪs ʌv ˌɑːpɚɹˈeɪʃənz ðæt wʊd dᵻmˈɪnɪʃ ðə θɹˈɛt ʌv dʒˌæpənˈiːz tɹˈuːp ɪŋkˈɜːʃənz fɹʌmðə lˈɑːɹdʒɚɹ ˈaɪləndz dˌaʊn sˈaʊθ ænd kˈʌt ˈɔf ɹˌiːɪnfˈoːɹsmənts kˈʌmɪŋ fɹʌm dʒˌæpənˈiːzˈɑːkjʊpˌaɪd ˌɪndoʊtʃˈaɪnə ɪn mˈeɪnlənd ˈeɪʒə vˈaɪə ðə sˈaʊθ tʃˈaɪnə sˈiː ænd ðə saʊθwˈɛstɚn sˈuːluː sˈiː.
With Mindoro island already in Allied hands since 16 December 1944 and the campaign for the recapture of Luzon already in full swing, the Americans wanted to establish another base of operations that would diminish the threat of Japanese troop incursions from the larger islands down south and cut off reinforcements coming from Japanese-occupied Indochina in mainland Asia via the South China Sea and the southwestern Sulu Sea.