US Out of the Philippines!
Anakbayan USA demands US Out of the Philippines! End all US Military Aid to the Philippines!
On July 31, Anakbayan USA chapters mobilized to indignation rallies in Seattle, SF, LA, Chicago, Washington DC and beyond to condemn the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between US & Philippine secretaries of foreign affairs and defense. The meeting announced an increase of military funding to the Philippines:
USD $500 million in Foreign Military Financing
USD $128 million for EDCA infrastructure projects across seven locations which are de facto US bases
The heavy investment in military interoperability and infrastructure are huge threats to Philippine sovereignty as the whole of the Philippines becomes a defacto US base and launching pad for its war provocations against China. There will be no peace for the Filipino people as the US ramps up to war — our people and our land will become cannon fodder caught between two imperialist powers.
At the meeting, the US and the Philippines continued discussions on bolstering the economy of the Philippines through trade deals, nuclear energy programs from the US, higher education partnerships, and more. These also fall flat of creating true change for the Filipino people because it will benefit only US based companies who get to mine more raw materials from the Philippine countryside, who get to expand their nuclear operations in a new market, and who get to hire Philippine graduates at a low cost. Meanwhile Filipinos will have to purchase finished products made from Philippine minerals at higher prices because there is no infrastructure to produce those items locally; they will be guinea pigs for untested and risky technologies and deals that will potentially store nuclear arsenal; and Philippine graduates do face and will still face the difficulties in earning a liveable wage in the ever worsening Philippine economy and finding a job. The only solution is true national industrialization and a true sovereignty from US imperialism.
As Filipino youth in the US, it is clear to us that Marco and Biden’s shared vision of “partnership, peace, and prosperity” is nothing but a scheme to protect US interests.
