CPP urges Filipinos to oppose PH-US defense nego

By Gerry Albert Corpuz, Gang Gong LiGong Li and John Lloyd Hoffman

MANILA, Philippines- The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Wednesday urge the nearly 100 million Filipinos to stand up for their soveriegn rights and oppose negotiations between the US and Philippine governments to set up special facilities for the rotational docking of American naval warships, unloading of US soldiers and basing of US spy planes. The plans are a component of the US drive to expand its military presence in the Philippines and in the Asia-Pacific region.

In a media release sent to all voices, the CPP assailed such plans, saying they were “tantamount to setting up US military bases in outright contempt of the Filipino people’s long historic struggles to defend and uphold Philippine sovereignty and rid the country of foreign military bases."

Top concerns

The matter is among the top concerns to be taken up in scheduled talks between the US and Philippine governments following the recently concluded Strategic Defense Dialogue (SDD) held January 26-28 in Washington D.C. The US government is awaiting proposals by the Aquino government on where to set up these special facilities.

The CPP said the Filipino people shoulld demand disclosure of the details of these negotiations, citing concerns on national sovereignty. “The Filipino people must demand an end to the secrecy that cloaks such military and security negotiations between the US and Philippine governments", the Maoist party said.

It said the Filipino people must resist the Aquino government’s subservience to the hegemonic aims of the US government to secure its military dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The regime has served as a willing tool in accomodating the US strategy of maintaining permanent military presence in the country and making use of the Philippines as a base of its power-projection operations to contain China,” said CPP.

It said the Filipino people to take firm hold of their aspirations for national sovereignty. "They must untiringly reiterate and struggle to oppose the permanent presence and basing of US military troops in the Philippines. They must push forward with their demand for the abrogation of the 1956 Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement.

The CPP said the Filipino people must vigorously demand the pullout of the 600-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) of the US Pacific Command from its base inside the headquarters of the AFP’s Western Mindanao Command in Camp Navarro, Zamboanga City.

The CPP also urged the Filipino people to oppose the expanded presence of American soldiers in the Western Command in Palawan, the increasing rotational docking of American military warships in Manila and elsewhere and the participation of American military troops in counter-guerrilla operations in the Philippines.

From Okinawa to Manila?

Meanwhile, one of the groups highly critical of US military presence in the country today said the transfer of some 8,000 American troops in Okinawa, Japan to the Philippines is not a remote possibility based on the 2003 proposal of the US state department to have their 47,000 troops based in Japan spread in Guam, Australia and the Philippines in case the Japanese government terminated its military pact with Washington government.

In a press statement, the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the Philippines is being eyed as one of the countries to host more than 8,000 US troops because of the strategic place it occupies in Asia and the Pacific, which will further strengthen US military stronghold against emerging military powers like China and North Korea.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the revival of the PH-US military bases is not also a remote possibility because it would provide the necessary political-military infrastructure to host a huge number of US troops who will be displaced in case Japan ends its military agreement with Japan and moves out its 47,000 strong armed forces in Okinawa island.

Earlier, Hicap warned the Filipino people that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is currently talking with the American government on the supposed return of US military bases in the country since the rejection of the PH-US military bases agreement on September 16, 1991. The fisherfolk leader said based on an article published by Washington Post yesterday entitled “Philippines may allow US greater military presence in reaction to China’s rise” the Philippine government is in talks with the government of US President Barack Obama about expanding the American military presence in the country as a strategic move aimed at China. “If we read between the lines, Washington wants a grand comeback of US military bases in the country to check, upset and provoke China at the expense of our country’s sovereignty and the people’s sovereign rights,” the Pamalakaya leader said. Hicap added: ‘It is like telling the client and puppet state of the Philippines to expand the scope of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) to something that would allow permanent basing of US forces and the setting up of new military bases in the country in the tradition of the 1947 RP-US Military Bases Agreement which was rejected by the Filipino people and culminated in the historic Senate vote 20 years ago. This theory is fast becoming a reality with the looming re-deployment of US troops in Okinawa to the Philippines, Guam and Australia.”

Full-blown inquiry



The Pamalakaya leader said the Philippine Senate should conduct a full-blown inquiry on reports that President Aquino is holding discrete talks with the Obama administration that would allow the American government to expand its military presence in the country to check China and challenge the latter’s claim to the controversial Spratly group of islands. “We ask the senators of the Philippine Republic to undertake a major political and legal inquiry over these reports of Washington Post that the Manila government is working hand-in-hand with the US government to increase its presence in the country including the ultimate return of American bases in different parts of the archipelago,” added Hicap. The article written by Washington Post correspondent Craig Whitlock said “ two decades after evicting U.S. forces from their biggest base in the Pacific, the Philippines is in talks with the Obama administration about expanding the American military presence in the island nation, the latest in a series of strategic moves aimed at China.” The report said “although negotiations are in the early stages, officials from both governments said they are favorably inclined toward a deal. They are scheduled to intensify the discussions Thursday and Friday in Washington before higher-level meetings in March. The report further said “if an arrangement is reached, it would follow other recent agreements to base thousands of U.S. Marines in northern Australia and to station Navy warships in Singapore. The same report said President Obama addressed the Australian Parliament in November and vowed to expand U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region, even as he reduces defense spending and winds down two wars.



The Washington Post write up also said among the options under consideration are operating Navy ships from the Philippines, deploying troops on a rotational basis and staging more frequent joint exercises. Under each scenario, U.S. forces would effectively be guests at existing foreign bases. “The sudden rush by many in the Asia-Pacific region to embrace Washington is a direct reaction to China’s rise as a military power and its assertiveness in staking claims to disputed territories, such as the energy-rich South China Sea,” the Washington Post report added. The US government regularly maintains about 600 Special Operations troops in the Philippines, where they advise local forces in their fight with rebels sympathetic to al-Qaeda. But the talks underway between Manila and Washington potentially involve a much more extensive partnership. The report said Philippine official had told the US government that their priority is to strengthen maritime defenses, especially near the South China Sea. They indicated a willingness to host American ships and surveillance aircraft.

It said although the U.S. military has tens of thousands of troops stationed at long-standing bases in Japan, South Korea and Guam, as well as the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, it is seeking to solidify its presence in Southeast Asia. Some of the world’s busiest trade routes pass through the South China Sea and the nearby Strait of Malacca