Fight the US-Aquino military bases agreement

Anakbayan. March 2014

We are calling on the Filipino youth and people to fight

the US-Aquino military agreement which will permit the

US to officially set-up military bases in the country.

The “Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation,”

previously the “Framework Agreement on Increased

Rotational Presence” between the US and the Aquino

government, will allow the US military to set up facilities

within AFP military camps or bases in Manila, Clark,

Palawan, Cebu, Nueva Ecija, and La Union.

Previously, the AFP announced plans to “upgrade” its

facilities using US aid in Oyster Bay and Ulugan Bay in

Palawan; Capas, Tarlac; and Guian, Eastern Samar. An

“exclusive zone” for the US Joint Special Operations Task

Force-Philippines already serves as US headquarters in

Camp Navarro in Zamboanga where about 700 soldiers

are camped and where entry of Filipios are prohibited.

The new agreement’s text has been hidden from the

public. Like the Visiting Forces Agreement, Mutual

Defense Treaty and other previous pacts, it is set to

increase military presence in the country and intensify

military intervention in further violation of our national

sovereignty.

The Aquino government is trying to make a fool out of

the people and skirt the constitutional provisions

prohibiting foreign bases in the country by saying that

technically, no new US bases will be put up, camps will

merely be “shared” by the US and PH soldiers. This

“sharing” will be under the command of the US soldiers,

wherein PH government officials and citizens will have

no control of. In fact, Aquino is plainly giving the US

unlimited and eternal access to PH soil – rent and cost

free.

These past years, Aquino has unashamedly revealed his

ultimate US fanboy self in allowing greater entry of US

troops on one hand, while doing nothing to make the US

accountable for its crimes in destroying Tubattaha

dumping toxic on PH seas, on the other.

Aquino is rushing the drafts of the bases agreement to

be able to present these in kowtow fashion to President

Barack Obama who is set to visit the country in April. In

haste, he bypasses the congress and senate approval

required to approve such treaty, causing some

lawmakers like Miraim Defensor Santiago to cry foul and

oppose the move.

The US and Aquino are using the territorial dispute with

China as pretext for the return of the US military bases

in the country. This glosses over the fact that the US is

not obligated under the MDT to defend us in case of

military conflict. Instead, it puts us in a perilous position

as a pawn and the “first line of defense” in the US

interventionist agenda in Asia. It is also seen to

undermine our efforts to resolve the dispute with China

in a diplomatic manner.

The use of “disaster preparedness and relief operations”

to justify the need for US bases smacks of opportunism

and insensitivity. This is an insult to those who have

been victimized by the disasters. The victims of Yolanda

and other disasters should fight US disaster militarism

and expose the nature of US fake “benevolence” as the

real tragedy.

Behind the bases pact is the US war agenda in South

Asia which aims to corner new markets and resources by

establishing greater exploitative trade set-ups and

corner China and other emerging powers to prevent

them from challenging the US global might. For the

Philippines, the colonial relations with US has meant

decades of poverty due to an exploitative and backward

economic and social set-up.

Patriotic youth and Filipinos should defeat this

throwback that is the US military bases. We should be

reminded of the atrocities of the US in their bases Clark,

Subic and the rest of the country and the reason the

people ousted them in 1991 -- human rights violations;

prostitution and rape; nuclear peril and toxic wastes;

trampling of our sovereignty and continued US

neocolonial domination of the country.

We must rekindle the patriotism of the broad masses of

Filipino youth and people; propagate the need to stand

up for our sovereignty and independence. We vow to

mobilize and demonstrate our opposition to the US

bases in the coming weeks and meet the Obama visit

with a historic protest.

Junk the US-Aquino bases agreement!

Junk the Visiting Forces Agreement!

Down with US Imperialism!