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.
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)
