Karapatan assailed the renewed security arrangements entered into by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his state visit to the United States that would redound to more US military funding and armaments for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for use in its brutal counter-insurgency war.
Said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, “In meetings between US and Philippine defense officials that foreshadowed Marcos Jr.’s state visit, the US affirmed its commitment to providing $500 million in military aid to the Philippines in the next five years, an initiative begun under the Biden administration. The Trump regime is slashing its spendings overseas, but has no intentions of cutting back on military support for one of its favorite puppets.”
“The Philippines has long been the biggest recipient of US military assistance in Southeast Asia, receiving since 2015 as much as Php 57 billion or $1.14 billion worth of planes, armored vehicles, small arms and other military equipment and training,” said Palabay. “These war materiel were used to bomb and strafe communities and kill Filipinos.”
“There was also talk of boosting ‘industrial defense ties’,“ added Palabay, “which meant building, among others, factories that would manufacture military drones and ammunition as well as facilities to repair and maintain warships and provide logistical support to US troops.”
Palabay decried that this would only suck the Philippines deeper into the vortex of US machinations to foment war with China and achieve dominance in the Asia-Pacific. “Filipinos, who are already suffering mounting human rights violations from a US-directed counter-insurgency war, will suffer all the more as Marcos Jr. bows to his imperialist master and irresponsibly brings the country closer to becoming embroiled in a US-instigated war with China.”
“Strengthening security relations” with the US can only spell more death and destruction for Filipinos, concluded Palabay.