Nationalist and progressive groups commemorated Philippines’ 128th Independence Day on Friday with a rally near the US Embassy in Manila, protesting expanding military operations and missile deployment in the Philippines.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) marched on Manila’s streets to amplify calls for the urgent dismantling of foreign military bases in the country and the rejection of the US-led weapons production coalition called Pax Silica.
“There’s no genuine independence as long as US bases and troops are allowed in the country, and the US military continues to use our land and water territories as training and staging grounds for its acts of aggression and intervention against other countries,” BAYAN said.
The group condemned the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government for its “treasonous and subservient” foreign policy that equates.
Independence Day celebrations ring hollow as government continues to sell out patrimony to foreign plunderers, while ignoring history by whitewashing US crimes against the Filipino people, it added.
Global anti-imperialist solidarity
The Philippine chapter of the International League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS) also condemned Pax Silica, saying 154 international groups from 30 countries and territories worldwide joined its call to shut down the initiative.
In addition, ILPS said 88 local groups, along with almost 500 individuals from at least 34 countries worldwide, also signed a statement opposing Marcos’ plan to turn over 1,600 hectares of land to the US under Pax Silica.
National groups based in Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, China, Ecuador, Germany, Hawaii, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, and Zambia signed the ILPS Philippines statement.
The signatories said that the Economic Security Zone under the plan is further proof that the Philippines does not enjoy genuine independence and remains a neocolony that can be plundered by a foreign power.
The rallyists succeeded in pushing aside layers of barbed wire but were prevented by phalanxes of police from reaching Roxas Boulevard where the US Embassy is located. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)