Today, war criminals Lloyd Austin and Anthony Blinken visited the Philippines to hold the 2+2 dialogue with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo that constitutes a substantial $500 million foreign military financing commitment from the US to the Philippines, facilitated by a recent national security supplemental approved by Congress.
The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the Security Sensor Assistance Roadmap (SSAR) will also be discussed in the meeting. Such agreements will allow the US greater access to the Philippines’ internal security affairs.
This proposed intel sharing and procurement roadmap aims to intensify US interference in our country’s internal affairs and undermine our pursuit of an independent foreign policy. By dictating the equipment procurement process, the US does not enhance our defense capabilities but transforms the Philippines into a dumping ground of surplus military assets and a pawn in inter-imperialist conflict.
Blinken and Austin are war criminals with direct hand in various conflict including the bombings in Yemen and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. They are harbingers of death to all oppressed nations and peoples across the globe.
The US will stop at nothing to maintain its military dominance in the Philippines, the Asia-Pacific region and globally, as it seeks to impose even more exploitative neoliberal policies that plunder our resources and labor force, in an aim to avert the crisis it has sunk itself in.
The US attempts to use the Philippines as an instrument in provoking a war of confrontation against China, its main imperialist rival.
By welcoming warmongers Austin and Blinken to the country, the Marcos Jr. administration further exposes itself as a US puppet. This deserves the strongest condemnation and resistance of all peace-loving people in the Philippines and all over the world.
KMU calls on all Filipino workers to unite and resist the continuing and intensifying US intervention and war provocation in our lands, in our seas and in our name.
We must stand firm in rejecting US imperialism’s intrusion into our region. We must resist the US militaristic approach that will drag us into a war that is not ours and instead, advocate a peaceful resolution of existing territorial conflicts.
We must mobilize to defend our nation’s independence and promote solidarity with nations pursuing genuine national freedom and democracy. Only through collective action can we thwart imperialist aggression and uphold genuine national sovereignty.