APCHRP: Reject the Balikatan Military Exercises! The Philippines will not be a staging ground for future imperialist wars
The Asia Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) stands in firm opposition to the ongoing Balikatan Military Exercises in the Philippines. These annual joint military exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the U.S. Armed Forces are presented as efforts to strengthen “maritime security, interoperability, and preparedness against external threats.” In reality, these exercises are a blatant display of U.S. military power in the Indo-Pacific region which only disrupts civilian life in the country and imperils the Philippines to a potential full-scale war that it cannot afford to be a part of.
“Balikatan” translates to “shoulder-to-shoulder” in the Tagalog language, but the reality of these military exercises is more akin to a bent knee in fealty to U.S. imperialism. Rather than a genuine partnership, the Balikatan Exercise exposes the Philippine government’s subservience to its U.S. imperialist masters, allowing them to use the Philippines as a staging ground for a future war with China. This year’s Balikatan Exercise commenced last 20th April and is the 41st iteration of the said military affair. More than 17,000 troops from the Philippines, the United States, Australia, Japan, Canada, France, and New Zealand are participating, with 17 additional nations joining under its International Observer Program.
The Philippines has no business being involved in the ongoing imperialist rivalry between the U.S. and China and should not be pulled into any prospective war that breaks out. The risk of inadvertently being dragged into a war between these two competing powers presents the real threat to Philippine security and its neighbouring countries. Rather than other Asian countries, the U.S. imperialist project presents the gravest danger to Philippine sovereignty and safety. The U.S. is also bent on flexing their military might towards China, in a blatant attempt to provoke their rivals, in this military exercise. A clear example was when participating U.S. troops launched a Tomahawk missile from Tacloban Airport in Leyte province, towards a target in Nueva Ecija province, approximately 630 kilometers away. Such a demonstration presents no value for the Filipino people, but to instead depict the country as a launching ground for potential U.S. missile strikes. This only puts the Philippines on the cross-hairs of America’s enemies.
The Balikatan Exercise, in general, offers no real benefit to the Filipino masses. They only endanger communities, destroy livelihoods, undermine national sovereignty, and intensify threats to regional security. The regime of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. must be condemned for allowing the expansion of U.S. military presence in the country and for shamelessly bowing to the dictates of U.S. imperialism. Instead of addressing the Filipino people’s urgent demands for land, decent jobs, and higher wages, the Marcos Jr. regime chose to turn the Philippines into a staging ground for U.S. war and aggression in the Asia-Pacific.
APCHRP calls for the immediate end of the Balikatan Exercises as they are not for the security of the Filipino people, but only to serve the interests of U.S. imperialism. We call on peace-loving peoples of the world to join our condemnation of these ongoing drills, and we support the Filipino people’s call to oppose growing U.S. military presence in the country and resist any and all attempts to turn the Philippines into a staging ground for a future imperialist war.
