“The cat is out of the bag—the so-called humanitarian assistance by the US troops in the disaster areas is simply a justification for their permanent basing and operation in the Philippines. Even without this disaster, the US was pushing for an increased and permanent presence of their troops and warships in the Philippines for its Asian pivot,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general.
“The cat is out of the bag—the so-called humanitarian assistance by the US troops in the disaster areas is simply a justification for their permanent basing and operation in the Philippines. Even without this disaster, the US was pushing for an increased and permanent presence of their troops and warships in the Philippines for its Asian pivot,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general.
“With less than two weeks in the Philippines, newly appointed United States Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg wasted no time in pushing for his government’s real agenda behind the exaggerated presence of warships in Leyte and Samar—the increased presence of US troops in the Philippines through the signing of the framework agreement,” she said.
Newspaper reports quoted Goldberg saying ‘What I think the framework agreement can do to is to help in the areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, being able to preposition supplies.’ ”
Goldberg emphasized the need for more US presence in Eastern Visayas purportedly because of the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda.
Earlier, Karapatan criticized the statement of Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario citing the same argument.
“While we welcome all aid extended to our brothers and sisters in the Visayas, we don’t see the necessity of deploying missile cruisers and missile destroyers and, amphibious assault vehicles and other warships,” added Palabay.
At least six US warships led by USS George Washington with 5,000 troop members were deployed in the typhoon-battered areas. Members of Karapatan who joined the relief mission in Tacloban described the presence of US troops there as “virtual takeover.”
“Aside from the support from international groups, what we really need is a government that is responsive to the needs of the people. The BS Aquino government has obviously failed the people, with or without disasters,” Palabay ended. ###