The Filipino people must vigorously oppose the US-Marcos regime’s plan to have US naval vessels escort Philippine maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea. Such plans increases by severalfold the risks of an armed conflict flaring up between the US and China, in which the Philippines will be caught right in the middle of the clash of imperialist titans.

The proposal was made the other day by war-monger Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro and was welcomed by the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Samuel Paparo. The US officer said that such a military activity falls under the Mutual Defense Treaty.

Having US vessels “escort” Philippine coast guard and naval ships in the country’s own waters, purportedly to assert its sovereign rights, will only further strengthen US dominance over the Philippines and give it a firmer military and political grip on the Philippine government and its armed forces.

The Filipino people must denounce the Marcos regime for its failure to pursue peaceful means to settle maritime disputes with China and assert Philippine sovereign rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), while continuing to invite US military intervention that only heightens tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

The Filipino people must continue to oppose China’s exaggerated claims over the South China Sea that cover the Philippine exclusive economic zone, and call on it to exercise restraint in asserting claims that contravene the UNCLOS. These must be settled through open dialogue, negotiations or arbitration.

They must oppose heightening US military presence and intervention, demand the dismantling of at least nine US military bases in the Philippines, and the removal of US troops and weapons from the country, and call for the abrogation of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Bilateral Security Guidelines and other lopsided military agreements with the US.