Amid anti-China criticisms by Philippine Coast Guard officials, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and by pro-US senators—who engage in pretentious promotion of Philippine sovereignty—the US relentlessly conducts aggressive and interventionist military and naval maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). These maneuvers heighten the possibility of armed clashes erupting between the US and China, which will drag the Philippines into an inter-imperialist war.

At the start of the year, the AFP announced plans for the US to conduct various activities in the WPS from January 15 to March 31. The US staged a Bilateral Bomber Air Patrol from February 2-6 covering the Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) to the Luzon Strait. An Australian warship “sailed” and encroached into the troubled waters around the Kalayaan Island Group on February 9-10, before docking at Subic Bay in Zambales on February 13.

It joined the US and Japan for dangerous maneuvers in the WPS under the 14th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for yet another round of destructive war games Salaknib and Balikatan (Sabak) set from April to June. One after another, top US, Japan, and Australian military officials have arrived and left the Philippines since January to prepare for these activities.

500+ Military Activities

The mentioned war games are part of over 500 interventionist activities the US plans to launch in the Philippines this year. These exclude US unilateral (without the AFP) war games to be conducted in the country’s territory. These also exclude war games initiated by Australia and Japan.

To justify the more frequent and larger war games this year, the US claims 2026 is critical because China plans to use force to bring Taiwan back under its control starting 2027. This despite China’s repeated statements that any “reunification” with Taiwan will proceed peacefully.

The list of war games was approved back in August 2025 at the annual Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board meeting. It was reaffirmed on February 16 at the 12th Philippines-US Bilateral Strategic Dialogue where the US announced it will stockpile more drones and missiles against China in the country. Thus, US maneuvers in the WPS are not “reactions” to China’s presence but calculated actions to heat up the region.

Deceptive “transparency”

While claiming to promote “transparency” in the WPS through publicizing China’s “intrusion” in the WPS, the AFP and US agents deliberately cover up the massive presence and intrusion of American troops in Philippine affairs and their appropriation of strategic locations in the country.

This February alone, the US publicized the formation in July 2025 of the Army Rotational Force-Philippines. Alongside its operations is the Littoral Rotational Force-Luzon, a US Marine Corps unit mainly based in the northern tip of Luzon. In October 2025, these units fell under Task Force Philippines, a US command formed after many Southeast Asian countries rejected the US push to forge a formal military pact against China. American troops take shifts in this formation to establish permanent presence in the country.

Aside from warships, the US also operates ocean-survey and Chinese-ship surveillance vessels in the South China Sea and Philippine waters (WPS and inter-island). These ships are manned by “civilian mariners” under the US Military Sealift Command.

Their presence far exceeds the publicized nine “agreed locations” under the EDCA. These American troops enjoy extraterritorial rights and protection. They are safe from local laws and cannot be easily held accountable for any crimes they may commit.