The visit of top level United States (US) officials is aimed at drawing the Philippines into another proxy war, evidenced by the offer of half a billion US dollars in military aid, activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said.
On the day of the “2+2 Ministerial Meeting” between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with Philippine counterparts Enrique Manalo of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Gilberto Teodoro of the Department of National Defense, BAYAN said the so-called military aid is self-serving since it will be used to build more US military facilities within the country.
The group added the funds will also be used to procure surplus weapons from the US itself.
“The 2+2 meeting today will lead to intensified and direct military intervention of the US. The corrupt and fascist Marcos Jr government barters the country’s sovereignty as it satiates its greed for money and its brutal aim of silencing dissent by raining down weapons of mass destruction in rural communities,” BAYAN said in a statement Tuesday.
The US officials said the Php29.3 billion fund are for the Philippines’ military and coast guard as well as real-time information-sharing and defense technology cooperation over a mutual concern against an aggressive China.
In a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo after the high-level meeting, Teodoro said the military fund will be used for “hardening” Philippine military and cybersecurity capabilities against unlawful aggression.
Of the package, $128 million are allocated to Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) infrastructure projects.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) and State Secretary Anthony Blinken in Malacanang Palace. (PCO photo)
The country’s biggest political alliance however said it condemns Marcos Jr. for his “mendicant and subservient” foreign policy by equating Philippine sovereignty with his “blind loyalty to the imperialist agenda of the US.”
“He has allowed the entry and meddling of foreign troops even if this is blatantly against the Constitution, he added additional EDCA sites which undermines our sovereignty and disrupts local livelihoods, and he echoes the war rhetoric of the US against China which heightens tension and instability in the region,” BAYAN said of Marcos.
Early on in his term, Marcos Jr. agreed to four more new US military sites in the Philippines under the EDCA, seen as direct responses to China’s incursions into other countries’ territories in the South China Sea.
BAYAN said the Marcos Jr. government has bartered Philippine sovereignty to “war criminals” like Blinken and Austin who are who are responsible for fanning proxy conflicts around the world and for enabling genocide in Palestine.
The group also expressed fear that the weapons to be bought with the funds will also be used against rural communities, particularly those that struggle with land and mining issues. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/bbm-with-US-officials.jpg9591249Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2024-07-31 09:26:422024-07-31 09:27:49US 'military aid' to draw PH into proxy war vs China--BAYAN
On this 4th of July—US Independence Day and US-Philippine Friendship Day—we ask who benefits and who suffers if GI Joe returns to Subic
Contributed by Jezrel V. Curambao and Joshua Reyes
According to the bidding documents and development plans of the Philippine Air Force in 2024, the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration decided to establish a forward operating base at the Subic Bay International Airport to support reconnaissance and combat aircraft not just of the Philippines but of other countries as well. Subic Bay used to a United States of America Naval Base, which was officially closed on November 26, 1992, marking the independence of the Philippines from being a foreign military base host. In reality, however, it did not completely close. Rather, it became a free port zone, with US military planes and ships still frequently visiting the base for supplies, repairs and operations, and R&R (rest and recreation) of US personnel. The base, then and now, remains a symbol of American colonialism of the Philippines.
In its heyday as a military port, Subic Bay was regarded as a Sodom and Gomorra by patriotic Filipinos, a manifestation of hell on earth, full of decadence and evil. Touted as beneficial to its supporters, it was a terrible curse on many local residents. Now, the Marcos Jr. government is reinvesting funds to reopen the gates of hell, wanting to let the nightmare replay.
Pro-American government tramples on the achievements of national struggle
Marcos Jr.’s decision is a surrender of the Filipino people’s struggle for genuine independence from our former colonizers. Since the 1960s, nationalist groups, including the Communist Party of the Philippines, opposed the naked subservience of succeeding governments. And in one fine display of patriotism in September 1991, the Philippine Senate voted to expel US military bases from our shores. That also put an end to the environmental pollution and illegal industries fostered by the US military in Subic Bay.
Since 2015, the US government has been pushing to reestablish nine military bases in the Philippines, including the Subic Bay Naval Base, which was rejected by the previous two governments. However, Marcos Jr. announced in November 2022 that it would renovate and restore the infrastructure of various bases and promised to explore more Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) base locations. Desperate for the approval of the country that played a role in their family’s ouster from power in 1986, Marcos Jr. acted on his promises. For example, in 2022, the government leased Redondo Peninsula, where the Subic Aguila Shipyard is located, and established a new naval operating base. In September 2023, he said he plans to use the naval operating base as a potential EDCA location and construct several pier-style docks in cooperation with the US.
Since 2022, there have been numerous protests by local patriotic groups against EDCA. They held a rally last February 4, the 125th anniversary of the start of the Philippine American. An even bigger rally was held last May 1 led by workers who blame U.S. imperialism for the country’s neoliberal economic policies that keep them impoverished. But with Chinese incursions in Philippine territorial waters as justification, Marcos Jr. completely ignored their voices, forging ahead with his plan to reopen the US military base in Subic Bay.
Environmental pollution has brought a long-lasting curse to the residents
The US military and its related institutions left a large amount of toxic wastes in Subic Bay, causing severe environmental pollution and destruction, and significantly impacting the health of the nearby community residents. From 1941 to 1991, when the US Navy had control of Subic Bay Naval Base, it did not construct a sewerage and waste disposal system that complied with environmental protection standards. It directly discharged sewage and wastewater containing heavy metals into Subic Bay or buried them. The power plants they built emitted large amounts of highly toxic gases such as PCBs into the air. According to subsequent investigations by civil society organizations, these pollutants caused cancer as well as heart and respiratory diseases among local residents. They have also resulted in miscarriages, congenital defects, and intellectual disabilities in children. By 2024, the pollution caused by the US military’s activities in the area has led to at least 1,180 deaths from illnesses caused by toxic substances. Due to the difficulty of natural degradation of the pollutants, this number will continue to increase.
Expectedly, the US has denied leaving any significant toxic waste in Subic Bay, claiming that it complied with Philippine environmental laws. It has never acknowledged the pollution issue and is unlikely to repent. To avoid displeasing US, Marcos Jr. ignores the demands of the victims for reparation. His decision to offer Subic Bay to the Americans anew also opens the area’s delicate ecosystem for further contamination.
Prostitution and the human rights violations of abandoned Filipino Amerasians
During its stay, the US military at Subic Bay Naval Base has spawned a notorious prostitution trade in Olongapo City and nearby towns. Many Filipino girls throughout decades became tools for the sexual gratification of American soldiers, leaving behind a large number of abandoned Amerasian (American-Asian) children. According to the Pearl S.Buck Foundation, there are at least 5,2000 Amerasian children abandoned in the Philippines by their American fathers. And because of their situation, they have been discriminated against with the Philippine government leaving them largely unprotected. The US has refused to address the issue of their upbringing and nationality in lawsuits initiated by non-governmental organizations.
Even without a full-blown US naval base in Olongapo, US soldiers carried on with wild abandon in their harsh treatment of locals. In November 2005, under the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement, a Suzette Nicolas was raped by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith inside a van, cheered on by fellow US Marines. In October 2014, this time with the EDCA in effect, transgender woman Jennifer Laude was brutally murdered by Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton who was convicted but never spent a day in a regular jail but in special US and Philippine military facilities.
The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu is seen moored at Subic Bay, Philippines, on Sept. 29, 2014, for Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) 2015. (Amanda R. Gray/U.S. Navy)
Amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu moored at Subic Bay at the time of Pemberton’s murder of Filipina transgender Jennifer Laude. (Photo by Amanda R. Gray/U.S. Navy)
Marcos Jr.’s decision to swing Subic Bay’s gates fully open once more disregards the yet unresolved issue of the abandoned Amerasian children and the victims of many other rape and prostitution victims. It also ignores the local residents’ sentiments as well as various religious groups. The impending return is about to let this humiliating, painful, and sinful history repeat itself.
Rebuilding the base serves only US interests
Allowing the US military to return to the base not only disregards the people’s patriotic struggles against all forms of colonialism in the Philippines. The reestablishment of these bases will also have an impact on the safety of local people, including but not limited to the activities of the US military in residential areas near the Subic Bay base. Operations such as weapons testing, target practice and bombing exercises may threaten the lives and wellbeing of local residents, such as those that regularly happen in nearby Pampanga and Tarlac against Aeta communities. In the event of a war, these bases will become military targets, further endangering residents.
A reason cited in the 1991 Senate vote was the US’ refusal to pay agreed-upon “rental fees,” a further affront on Philippine sovereignty just as worse as Chinese incursions in our waters. The announced repair and enhancement projects to entice another US military base in Subic will also bring financial pressure to the local government, increase national financial expenditure, and use Filipinos’ money to create something that benefits the US government for free.
We Filipinos have given our land, manpower, material resources, and financial resources in exchange for polluted environments, human rights violations, and the threat of war. Whose interests is Marcos Jr. really pursuing? #
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Jezrel V. Curambao and Joshua Reyes are freelance writers and were former University of the Philippines students passionate about political and social justice issues.
Opinions expressed in their contributed article above are entirely their own and may not necessarily reflect Kodao’s.
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A Makabayan solon and the Department of National Defense (DND) separately condemned an alleged threat made by Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian against Filipinos in Taiwan.
House of Representative Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party Rep. France Castro said Huang’s statement is a threat and an imposition on a sovereign country.
“It is condemnable that China seems to be issuing a threat not just against the Philippines as a country but to innocent overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were obligated to work abroad to create better lives for their families,” Castro said in a statement Saturday, April 15.
In a public speech Friday, the Chinese envoy said, the “Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs.”
“The Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair, as is the Mindanao issue to the Philippines. You will never allow any third party to meddle with resolving rebel issues in Mindanao,” Huang said.
This did not sit well with the progressive solon who said Huang’s statement must be condemned.
The DND in a separate statement took exception to Huang’s assertion the Philippines is “meddling” in Chinese internal affairs concerning Taiwan.
DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the Philippines’ primary concern regarding the heated situation between China and Taiwan are the expatriate Filipinos in the island.
Pique at new EDCA sites
While it appears to directly threaten Filipino workers in Taiwan, Huang’s speech was in fact obviously directed at the Philippine government’s decision to open four new military sites the for United States military to be closer to China.
“Obviously, the US intends to take advantage of the new EDCA sites to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan strait to serve its geopolitical goals, and advance its anti-China agenda at the expense of peace and development of the Philippines and the region at large,” Huang said.
The Chinese Ambassador also likened the situation in Taiwan to Mindanao, implying that China does not meddle with Moro independence struggles in Southern Philippines. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/france.png410728Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-04-15 19:31:442023-04-15 19:31:46Makabayan solon, DND condemn Chinese envoy’s threat against OFWs in Taiwan
Int’l rights group condemns arrest of anti-war exercise activists
The first day of the Balikatan war exercises between the Philippine military and the United States, Japan, Australia and United Kingdom is bringing terror and fear to affected communities, a national alliance of women reported.
As the 17,600 combined local and foreign troops started their military exercises in Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites across the country, residents in some affected communities fear leaving their homes for fear of being hit by live fire drills, Gabriela reported.
“In Nueva Ecija, residents expressed concern over explosions from last week beginning in the tail end of March. These explosions are usually heard at night, around 11pm, from the adjacent EDCA site in Fort Magsaysay,” the group said in a statement.
The live fire drills have been a source of concern for people’s mobility and their ability to safely seek their livelihoods, added Gabriela secretary general Clarice Palce.
Palce said the sounds of bombs and grenades going off keep families, especially children, awake at night.
“These explosions cause intense mental and emotional distress and anxiety in the affected communities. Further, these LFXs (live fire exercises) and military operations are major wildlife stressors and leave toxic waste behind. Alarmingly, the impoverished condition of our farmers is aggravated by these exercises,” Palce lamented.
Palce’s group said they have no doubt that the coming days will only bring more fear and suffering for Filipinos, including increased incidents of prostitution, among women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, who due to extreme poverty are driven into the plague of prostitution with the surrounding US military as their biggest “Johns”.
“Our fear is that with this biggest Balikatan yet, we will see even more Jennifer Laudes, more Vanessas and Nicoles, who have become victims of abuse from US soldiers and to this day are deprived of justice,” Palce said.
Laude had been brutally murdered by a US Marine while “Vanessa” and “Nicole” complained of being raped by American soldiers who were in the Philippines as part of its government’s military agreements with the US.
Anti-EDCA activists arrested
Meanwhile, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemned the arrest of student activists who protested the ongoing war exercises as it started yesterday, Tuesday.
“[ICHRP] condemns the unlawful arrest of student leaders Gabriel Magtibay, chairperson of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP), and Joanne Pagkalinawan of the Far Eastern University during a lightning rally in front of the United States Embassy in Manila in the early morning of April 11,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Global Council Chairperson said in a statement.
Four paralegals who rushed to assist the arrested students were also nabbed by the Manila Police District, but were later released.
Magtibay and Pagkalinawan are being charged with illegal assembly, vandalism, and resisting arrest by the police.
“The arrest of student activists participating in a peaceful demonstration clearly violates their right to freedom of assembly. This is stipulated in international human rights covenants ratified by the Philippines, such as Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Murphy said.
“The protest action was justified as it defends the Philippines’ right to national sovereignty, a basic human right. Participating in the Balikatan Exercises will only drag the Philippines into the worsening US-China tensions and will likely result in more violations of the rights of the Filipino people,” Murphy added.
ICHRP said the joint military exercise is widely seen as a provocative act by the US against China, as it includes military exercises planned with other countries in the First Island Chain – Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/230407-M-MO098-1332-scaled.jpg17072560Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2023-04-12 11:09:332023-04-12 11:09:34EDCA live fire drills terrorize Nueva Ecija communities, Gabriela reports
PROGRESSIVE groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) took to the streets of Manila last July 27 to protest United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the Philippines.
Kerry is in the Philippines to dialogue with president Rodrigo Duterte on Philippine international relations, specifically on its ongoing dispute with China over the South China Sea.
The activists, however, said that Kerry’s visit is an attempt to make Duterte dependent on the US as his predecessors. Read more
PROGRESSIVE organizations held a rally in front of the United States Embassy in Manila last July 26 to protest the final Supreme Court ruling declaring the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the US and the Philippines legal.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan’s Renato Reyes said that EDCA is an unjust agreement that is only advantageous to the US. Read more
Commemorating the Philippine-American War on February 4, 2016, protesters against the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) marched to the US embassy in Manila carrying cut-outs of Heneral Luna as portrayed in a much-acclaimed historical film. The groups are affiliated with the Philippines chapter of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS-Phils) and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN).
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Progressive organizations denounced the Supreme Court decision declaring the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) constitutional in a rally in front of the United States Embassy last January 14.
The protesters maintain that the US-Philippine EDCA violates Philippine sovereignty by giving basing rights to foreign military, more so that the Philippine Senate has disapproved of the “treaty”.
Petitioners against the EDCA are set to file a motion of reconsideration to the High Tribunal very soon.
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As the Philippine Supreme Court is about to release its ruling on the petition to declare the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the United States of America and Philippine government unconstitutional, petitioners belonging to the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan staged a rally in front of the Court to reiterate their opposition to foreign military presence in the country.
Here is a video report of the event.
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