The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the 2018
Balikatan joint war exercises between the Philippine and US
military forces which violate Philippine sovereignty, heighten
the militarization of the Asia-Pacific and drag the Philippines
to the rising military tensions between the US and China.

The Balikatan 2018 war exercises outrightly violate Philippine
sovereignty. US military forces are being allowed to sail its
nuclear-powered and -capable warships into Philippine seas. The
US forces are allowed to fly their jetfighters and drones over
Philippine airspace. US naval forces are scheduled to mount
practice amphibious invasion maneuvers on Philippine coastal
areas.

Under the Visiting Forces Agreement which govern the Balikatan
exercises, Philippine government officials have no authority to
check on the cargo of US warships. Thus, the Philippine
government cannot enforce its own 1987 constitution which
prohibits the entry of nuclear weapons. The American military
have long stationed missiles and other weapons in its exclusive
facilities without informing the Philippine public.

With the Balikatan exercises and its focus on so-called
“counter-terrorist” operations, the US is set to further
heighten its intervention in the Philippines. With the terror
tagging of the CPP and NPA by the US and Duterte regime, the US
is set to increase its counter-insurgency intervention
operations in the country. This constitutes direct intervention
in a domestic conflict.

By providing the Duterte regime with military aid, the US is
supporting Duterte’s fascist rampage against the people.

The Balikatan war exercises strengthens the US hegemonic
foothold in the Philippines and exarcerbates military tensions
in the Pacific region. It makes the Philippines an accessory to
US imperialist power projection. As in the second world war, the
US is dragging the Philippines to its imperial wars.

While protesting the Balikatan war exercises, the CPP denounces
as well the Chinese deployment of missiles in its military
outposts in the South China Sea which violates Philippine
sovereignty as these are being erected within the Philippine’s
exclusive economic zone. Like the Balikatan exercises, the
deployment of these missiles stoke military tensions in the
Asia-Pacific region.

Between the US and China, it is the US which is the bigger giant
trampling on Philippine sovereignty. American boots are on the
ground.

The CPP supports the protests being mounted against the
Balikatan exercises. It urges the Filipino people to call for
the demilitarization of the South China Sea. They must amplify
the demand for the pull-out of all US troops and facilities in
the Philippines and the dismantling of Chinese military
facilities in the South China Sea.