The puppet Marcos regime is dragging local governments into the danger and peril of the US imperialist war by launching the Inter-Agency Territorial Defense Operations Exercise (ITDOEx). This is a war game of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) disguised as “civil-military cooperation” amid severe crisis and disasters.

Under this, local governments (from barangay to province), civilian agencies, and the regime’s uniformed forces such as the AFP, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Air Force, and Office of Civil Defense will “work together.” It supposedly prepares for responding to external threats including coastal assault, counter-infiltration and missile attacks, and complex disasters and crises. This tightens US control down to the level of local government.

The ITDOEx is framed within the AFP’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC). The AFP promotes the CADC supposedly to protect the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in Palawan (where US and Chinese ships are constantly present), and in Batanes (which the US plans to turn into a base because of its proximity to Taiwan).

The CADC is framed within the broader US “archipelagic defense strategy” that pushed to deploy missile and artillery systems along what it calls the “first-island chain.” This is covered by the more aggressive and expansive Indo-Pacific Security Strategy.

In the Zamboanga Peninsula and Panay

The US-Marcos regime first launched the ITDOEx in the Zamboanga Peninsula, followed recently by exercises on Panay island. These two regions are among the land areas closest to Palawan, which will support the province once a US imperialist war against China breaks out.

Called Exercise Kalazamsur 01-2025, the first ITDOEx was launched in Zamboanga del Sur on December 12, 2025. It was carried out on Igat Island in the town of Margosatubig, where civilian agencies and local governments from six towns participated.

The Regional Peace and Order Council of the Zamboanga Peninsula then issued a resolution in January to launch the ITDOEx in other provinces and to frame a regional-level war game under Kalasag Zampen. Related war games were conducted in Zamboanga del Norte in February, Zamboanga Sibugay in March, and a regional level war game is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.

ITDOEx Pag-ugyon 2026 was launched on June 16-17 in Iloilo under the cover of Executive Order No. 2025-111 issued by the local government. The war games were conducted in the towns of Miag-ao and San Joaquin in Iloilo, but the disruption it caused extended to Guimbal, and to Anini-y and Hamtic in Antique.

The AFP used military vehicles and warships, helicopters, artillery, and other weapons in these war games. Loud sounds of “simulated” or realistic attack scenarios echoed, terrorizing the people. Thousands of individuals were mobilized in each activity, and millions of pesos were spent on them.

Fear and concern

The ITDOEx is causing widespread fear and concern in communities. The war games rehearse scenarios of war outbreak, now being provoked by US imperialism in the Asia-Pacific against its rival China.

Instead of addressing the worsening economic crisis, the US-Marcos regime is conducting costly and wasteful war games that disrupt the lives and livelihoods of the people. In one exercise, the AFP violated students’ rights when it used a university in Iloilo as a helicopter landing zone and evacuation center.

The war games are also shaping Filipinos’ mindset that war against China is the only way to defend the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea. The people must reject the ITDOEx and defend Philippine national sovereignty by demanding the repeal of unequal military agreements, the expulsion of US troops, and the dismantling of US military bases (EDCA sites) in the country.