CPP Joins Filipino People In Condemning Approval By Marcos-Duterte Regime Of 4 New EDCA Sites
Marco Valbuena | Chief Information Officer | Communist Party Of The Philippines
April 4, 2023
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins the Filipino people in condemning the Marcos regime for colluding with the United States in its plan to construct four more military bases in the country as part of its war preparations against China.
Yesterday, Malacañang announced that it has “approved” the “request” of the United States to have access to the following locations:
– Camilo Osias Naval Base in Sta. Ana town, Cagayan
– Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo town, Cagayan
– Camp Melchor dela Cruz in in Gamu, Isabela
– Balabac island, southernmost island in Palawan province
Under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), military camps of the AFP can serve as “agreed locations” where the US can construct its own military facilities. The Lal-lo International Airport is not even a military camp of the AFP. There is only a naval outpost in Balabac, which will be surely be overran by the US Navy and transformed into a giant foreign naval fortress, if the US plans push through.
Under the EDCA, the US will enjoy extra-territorial rights within these facilities, in which Philippine authorities will have no authority to enter or inspect. The US can also freely use Philippine airspace and radio waves on the pretext of going to and fro these bases and facilities. The US military can store nuclear weapons in these facilities in violation of the 1987 constitution, without the Filipino people even knowing.
In addition to these EDCA sites, the US is also set to use the ship building and repair facilities at the former Subic Naval Base, which is now being operated by the Cerberus Company, a US finance company that owns the private military contractor DynCorp group.
By agreeing to let the US military construct more bases and facilities in these sites, the Marcos regime is allowing the United States to use the Philippines as a pawn in its war strategy against China. The Indo-Pacific Security Strategy of the US government aims to encircle China to stifle the growth of its economic and military power.
Marcos is fooling Filipinos when he claimed yesterday that these US military bases and facilities will be “used for humanitarian and relief operations.” The so-called disaster response program of the US military is, in fact, a big screen to obscure the aggressive push of the US to extend and project its military power. To see through the lies of the claim that these facilities will bring jobs to communities, one need only to look at how US military bases in any part of the world have promoted prostitution and other anti-social activities.
In all likelihood, the US will construct facilities to launch long-range missiles in one or more of these EDCA locations. Since 2021, the US Indo-Pacific Command has been planning to construct a network of ground-based missile launching systems along what it calls the “First Island Chain” which includes Japan, Korea, the Philippines and other islands closest to China.
The war theater preparations of the US are centered on stoking Taiwan “independence” in order to provoke China to “own the starting gun” and thus justify its plans to “come to Taiwan’s defense.” In such an event, the Lal-lo international airport will likely serve as a launching pad and rear service area for US jet fighters that will be used by the US in its war against China.
The planned construction of these US military bases will further raise the possibility of the Philippines, as well as Japan, Korea and other countries, being pulled into the vortex of the war being provoked by the US, in much the same way that the US has been using Ukraine as a pawn against Russia. These facilities will endanger the lives of Filipinos, especially in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Palawan, as these will certainly serve as magnets that will attract Chinese action or counteraction.
Amid these US imperialist machinations and threats of war, the Filipino people’s freedom and life are at stake. It is urgent for the Filipino people to stand up, fight for genuine sovereignty and denounce the subservience of the Marcos regime.
It is the patriotic duty of Filipinos to oppose the plan the construct more US military bases and facilities in the country, demand the dismantling of all other US military facilities, demand the abrogation of all unequal military treaties with the US, and demand independence and neutrality in foreign policy.
Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/with-new-edca-sites-ph-to-become-us-pawn-in-war-strategy-vs-china/