Progressive organizations in Bicol protested on August 14 in Legazpi City to condemn US imperialist military presence in the city. They launched the action on the last day of the US “humanitarian mission” under the Pacific Partnership 2024-2 that began on August 1.

Led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Bicol, its members and allied organizations picketed before the Marison Hotel in Barangay 38-Cogon where some of the American soldiers stayed. A mass at the Albay Cathedral followed, and caravan to Our Mother of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church, near the said hotel.

Bayan-Bicol Chairperson Jen Nagrampa said they staged the protest to register the opposition of Bicolano patriots to US military activities in the region and even in the entire country. “This humanitarian mission Led by the US Indo-Pacific Command is a smokescreen for combat operations,” the group said.

Pacific Partnership 2024-2 is the 20th time since the annual activity was started. It masquerades as the so-called largest multinational “humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness” in the Indo-Pacific. It uses the program to strengthen the regional command in the Indo-Pacific countries.

“The humanitarian mission’s disaster response is plain ‘greenwashing’ [and] a deliberate evasion from the true cause of the disaster and those accountable,” Bayan-Bicol said. They refer to the US military industry and its imperialist plunder in many semi-colonies and underdeveloped countries that cause environmental destruction.

Apart from this, Bayan-Bicol emphasized that the US is also using the activity to drag the Philippines into the whirlwind of the imperialist war between the US and its rival China. “This will only intensify the direct military intervention of the US. Marcos Jr allowed the entry and meddling of foreign troops even if this is blatantly against the Constitution,” Nagrampa added.

Bayan-Bicol also condemned the 93rd Civil-Military Operations Company and the 9th Civil-Military Operations Battalion for instigating the elderly and civilians to rally against the anti-US protests.

Normalization of Yankee presence

At the height of the Pacific Partnership 2024-2, US troops carried out numerous activities in Legazpi City aimed to normalize their presence in the Philippines. They participated in “humanitarian” activities, concerts and other self-aggrandizing shows. This is further magnified by the kowtowing and extravagant warm welcome of local agencies and governments.

The US warship City of Bismarck docked on July 30 in Legazpi City, carrying 500 American, Japanese and South Korean soldiers for the activity. Meanwhile, the Pacific Partnership 2024-2 was officially opened last August 2 at the Legazpi City Expo Center.

On August 7, American soldiers staged a concert at Ayala Malls in Legazpi City. This is just one of the concerts the soldiers performed in Legazpi. They also marched in the Ibalong Festival parade launched in the city on August 9. Before that, they displayed themselves in the tree planting activiy at the foot of the Mayon Volcano on August 7 and school construction at Legazpi Port Elementary School on August 6.