Filipinos Stand Firm Against U.S. Military Expansion and Provocations
The Filipino anti-war movement vigorously denounced the visit of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Manila on February 2. Austin was on an official visit to Asia to gain military concessions from both the Philippines and south Korea. The protesters in Manila shouted slogans, burnt U.S. flags and held up placards denouncing Austin's visit and the decision made by the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government that day to provide the U.S. with access to four more military bases, adding to the five previously granted under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The EDCA was imposed on the Philippines in 2014 as part of the Obama administration's "Pivot to Asia" geopolitical strategy. The EDCA allows U.S. military forces, along with their weapons and supplies, to stay "indefinitely," rotating through barracks and buildings constructed within Philippine military camps.
The
protesters demanded that the U.S. military withdraw from the
Philippines. They called for the EDCA to be scrapped along with the
1951 U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty and the 1999 Visiting Forces
Agreement, and for the closing of all U.S. military operations in the
Philippines.
These unequal treaties enable the U.S. to impose its military dictate on the people of the Philippines, meddle in the internal affairs of the country and integrate it into the U.S. war machine. The increased U.S. military presence in the Philippines falls within the plans of the Biden administration's "Indo-Pacific Strategy" which alleges Chinese "aggression" as the rationale for U.S. military expansion and war preparations in the region.
In his meeting with Secretary Austin, President Marcos said, among other things: "I have always said that it seems to me that the future of the Philippines and for that matter the Asia-Pacific will always have to involve the United States simply because those partnerships are so strong."
The four additional Philippines military bases the U.S. gained access to include one in Cagayan province near the northern tip of Luzon Island, across the sea from Taiwan, the Taiwan Strait and southern China. Another is in Palawan near the Spratly Islands which are being claimed by China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
In a statement on February 5, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denounced this latest military agreement between the U.S. and the Philippines. It noted: "Heightened U.S. presence in the Philippines combines with increased U.S. military presence and activity in Japan, South Korea, naval exercises and manoeuvres in the South China Sea, Sea of Japan, Taiwan Strait and East Philippine Sea." The CPP also noted that the increased U.S. presence in the region, that allows around 8,000 U.S. troops to land on Philippine soil and for some 500 joint war exercises planned for this year, is a provocation and insult to the people of the Philippines who want a peaceful country and Indo-Pacific region.
The CPP called on all the Filipino people to step up their opposition to the further U.S. militarization of their country and region and not permit such trampling of their sovereignty. It emphasized that the increased presence of the U.S. military in the Philippines contributes to further tension and insecurity for all. If unchecked it will lead to a major confrontation between the U.S. and China at the expense of the peoples of the region.
In another statement on March 16, the CPP called on the Filipino people to resolutely oppose the upcoming annual Balaikatan U.S.-Philippine joint military exercises which will deploy at least 12,000 U.S. troops in full-scale joint exercises carried out under the pretext of defending the Philippines. It called on the Filipino people to "continue to link up with other peoples of Asia and other parts of the globe who are resisting imperialist military intervention in their countries. A united front to fight imperialist wars must be established and strengthened and stop these from erupting into a conflagration."
(With files from CPP, Bayan.)
This article was published in
Volume 53 Number 5 - March 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53057.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca