Progressive groups protested the visit of new US secretary of defense Peter Hegseth on March 28. Hegseth is in the country until March 29 to meet with Philippine defense and military officials to push the US warmongering agenda in the Philippines and in Asia.

“Hegseth’s visit is… a calculated move in Washington’s (US) ongoing campaign to contain and provoke China,” stated the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. It deliberately lays the conditions for the inevitable escalation of conflict that will drag the Philippines into a war that only benefits the US, it said.

Hegseth’s visit coincides with the launch of the SABAK war games (combined Salaknib and Balikatan) which started in March until April 11, and again from May 19 to July 20. These prolonged and large-scale war games will be launched in territories close to Taiwan, as well as in the West Philippine Sea to heighten tensions with its rival China, using the Philippines and China’s maritime dispute. Part of these war games will be conducted in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Zambales.

The AFP’s Spyder mobile air defense system, newly purchased from Israel, will be deployed in Balikatan using advanced missiles and bombs such as the Rafael Spike NLOS, South Korea’s C-Star surface-to-surface missile, and the French-made Mistral 3 surface-to-air system. As in the past, ship sinking will be conducted which is certain to disrupt the sea and livelihood of fisherfolk where it will be carried out.

Hegseth’s agenda also includes the supposed AFP modernization, which at the start of Donald Trump’s second administration term, was not among the programs hit by funding freeze.

“In truth, this (modernization) is part of a broad strategy to make the AFP an auxiliary force of the US in an all-out war with China,” according to the NDFP. “While the maritime dispute with China remains fundamentally a territorial and resource issue, it pales in comparison to the pervasive US control over Philippine economy, culture, politics and military…”

By strengthening Hegseth’s relationship with Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s puppet regime, it also implicates the US in the regime’s widespread human rights violations against the people, especially under the guise of the counter-insurgency campaign.

The NDFP joined the Filipino people in opposing Hegseth’s visit to the country.

“Allowing US troops to conduct military operations disguised as training on Philippine soil is unacceptable,” it said. “Amidst these war exercises, revolutionary forces will continue to defend civilian communities affected by these military operations.”