Members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan, or New Patriotic Alliance), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, or Labor Day Movement), League of Filipino Students (LFS), and other national-democratic organizations protested on May 8 at Camp Aguinaldo concurrent with the Balikatan 2026 official closing. They condemned the 19-day Balikatan, where the US carried out offensive maneuvers such as firing missiles from civilian facilities.

According to Bayan, this Balikatan clearly showed the US use of the Philippines as a “forward base” in its planned imperialist war in Asia. It also criticized Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro for dismissing public concern over the launching of a live missile above civilian communities.

Likewise, Japan’s missile firing at the South China Sea and drills to sink an “enemy ship” are provocative maneuvers that endanger the lives and livelihoods of Filipino fisherfolk, the protesters said. Balikatan brings chaos and danger, not “peace” as the US and its puppet Marcos regime insist, they said.

“The Balikatan… signals the normalization of foreign missiles in our country,” according to LFS. The youth refuse to become cannon fodder to defend US imperialist interests, the group said.

The protesters also condemned Ferdinand Marcos Jr and the AFP for squandering public funds on large-scale war games amid the severe suffering of Filipinos.

“The poverty and hunger in our country are severe. Unemployment among Filipinos rose by 5.1% while the prices of goods and oil continue to climb,” KMU’s Jerome Adonis said. It would have been better to allocate funds to controlling oil prices and increasing wages rather than to war games, he added.