APCHRP: Stop the Balikatan 2025 military exercises! No war in the Asia-Pacific region!
The Asia Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) expresses its strong opposition to the ongoing Balikatan military exercises between the Philippines and the United States. The annual war games between the two countries is merely another avenue that the U.S. exerts its military hegemony over the Philippines and brings no real benefit to the lives of ordinary Filipinos. Instead, this military exercise has resulted in several human rights violations and environmental degradation in the past – harming the livelihood of Filipino fisherfolk, farmers and indigenous peoples (IPs).
The weeks-long Balikatan (English: “shoulder-to-shoulder”) military exercises commenced last 24 March and will involve war simulation activities across the Philippines. To further emphasize the U.S.’s hegemony over the Philippines, American Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also due to visit the country later this week – presumably to assert this power structure between the two countries. This intensified focus on the Philippines is part of the Trump administration’s grand plan to continue the encirclement of China, which is the other imperialist power globally. By further asserting the U.S.’s presence in the Philippines, the Trump administration is sending a message that it has a firm grip over the Asian country.
This is not new from the Trump administration, during its first iteration – when Donald Trump became the 45th U.S. president in 2017 – we saw similar warmongering tactics in the Indo-Pacific region, again aimed at countering China. Recently as well, Trump approved $336 million in military aid for the Philippines – aimed at inflaming tensions between the latter country and China, which has long shown imperialist ambitions in the West Philippine Sea. Part of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan is also to promote U.S. military dominance worldwide under the guise of self-defense and counterinsurgency assistance.
In the Philippines, U.S. counterinsurgency assistance has been used to unjustly target revolutionary organizations and non-combatants involved in the people’s struggle. The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., has also said they will test-fire the newest missile defense system in the West Philippine Sea. This is expected to result in significant environmental damage, raising concerns about the long-term effects on marine ecosystems and local livelihoods.
Despite having no real benefit to ordinary Filipino citizens, the administration of President Bongbong Marcos Jr. is prioritizing these military drills that only serve US interests in the Asia Pacific. This despite the litany of social and economic issues confronting the Filipino people such as continued high prices of basic food items, stagnating wages and the lack of good quality jobs in the country. The decision for Marcos Jr. to prioritize military exercises with the U.S. over the plight of his own people is a testament to his desperation to keep hold of power, particularly during his political dynasty’s intensifying feud with the Duterte political family. To stave off the backlash he is receiving for allowing the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest former president Rodrigo Duterte for his crimes against humanity, Marcos Jr. is bending over backwards to please his American masters and demonstrate his loyalty to the U.S. imperialist order.
The APCHRP calls on the U.S.-Marcos regime to stop its provocations of war in the Asia-Pacific region, which merely serves to safeguard American control of the region. At the same time, we call on the Marcos Jr. administration to instead focus on real, tangible issues beleaguering the Filipino people he is meant to serve. The U.S. must end its assistance and financial aid of the Philippine military, as this support is being used not for national defense, but to suppress the Filipino people.
APCHRP joins the Filipino people in demanding that the Marcos Jr. administration immediately cancel the Balikatan Exercises and revoke unequal military and economic agreements that only serve foreign interests. Marcos Jr. must stand for sovereignty, peace, and justice, not act as a pawn in imperialist agenda. Allowing U.S. interests to tighten its grip on the Philippines will only escalate violations of international humanitarian law, leading to more suffering, displacement, and repression of the Filipino people.
Lastly, the APCHRP calls on all human rights groups within the international community to closely monitor the developments surrounding the Balikatan Exercises. We urge to expose and oppose U.S. interests in the Philippines, disguised as “defense cooperation,” which fuel militarization, violate human rights, and undermine the country’s sovereignty. Solidarity among global human rights defenders is vital to challenging these imperialist agenda and supporting the Filipino people’s fight for justice, human rights, self-determination and peace.###
#NoToBalikatanExercises
#StopUSWarMachine
#JunkEDCA
#JunkVFA
