PRESS RELEASE
DAVAO CITY—Anti-imperialist youth group League of Filipino Students demands termination on the ongoing talks on Bases Access Treaty between the Philippines and the United States panels, which is already on its sixth round.
“The people had been facing the issue of US intervention for a long time. Yet, here we are again. As far as I can remember, it is clearly stated in the law that US troops are never allowed to enter and build bases here. But these hard-headed puppets of the imperialist US are now pushing this through again,” LFS Davao spokesperson Clint Ceasar Juaban said in dismay.
It was August 2013 when the first round of the US-PH talks took place at Camp Aguinaldo and allowed US construction inside the Philippine area.
“The PH panel effortlessly opened PH bases to construction, considered it temporary to make it reasonable. The panel has been only fooling around the constitution, which clearly manifests the Aquino government’s bias to his imperialist boss. Nothing more, nothing less,” he said.
Juaban added, “If we can still remember, the China’s aggressive claim on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) caused terror, not just to the Filipinos, but also to the United States. This resulted to the immediate partnership between the two countries in terms of security and defense.”
The militant leader set Obama’s postponed visit last October 2013 as a clear manifestation of the US’ response to the said dispute, allegedly convincing all Southeast Asian countries to tie up against China thru its ‘pivot to Asia-Pacific’ tactic.
“Actually, it’s really not because they want to increase the security in the country. Their most frail reason why they keep on pushing such is to boost the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ defense capability in the form of joint training on combat and disaster response. The second round of talks clarified agreements on facility use and ownership under the Access Agreement—that all the facilities that will be used in prepositioning remains a property of the Philippines; that the PH will act as the primary responsible & authority in security; that any prepositioning will not violate any environmental law, and the like,” he explained.
Moreover, US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg lately highlighted the US troops’ humanitarian assistance when Yolanda hit Tacloban.
“Again, the possible speedy approval of the Bases Access Agreement will only risk the nation’s security and sovereignty. More US military troops will surely enter the country, converge with the AFP and intensify militarization more in countrysides. Hundreds of foreign large scale & open pit mining companies will exploit and extract wealth from our lands, and a lot of farmers and lumads will lose theirs. We cannot fail this time. We must be vigilant, given that the talk is coming to its end,” Juaban expressed.
The militant leader discussed that the BALIKATAN Exercises was also included in the most recent talk, and will resume this year at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.
“We don’t have so much time to sit and think. We cannot deny that the present regime is strong, as controlled by the imperialist US. But we Filipinos have to be stronger and brighter. That’s why we are strongly encouraging everybody to join the anti-imperialist movement, stand against nonstop US intervention and fight for national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Juaban concluded.
For reference:
CLINT CEASAR JUABAN
Spokesperson
League of Filipino Students Davao
0943-469-9044
