📷Antonio Tinio, P1NAS Spokesperson
P1NAS, the broad citizens’ movement for national sovereignty, strongly condemns the ongoing military exercises between the United States and the Philippines, known as Kamandag 8, which coincide with heightened military tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the Middle East. These war games, disguised under the guise of “humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” pose a grave threat to peace-loving Filipinos and other peoples in the region.
The exercise, which began on October 15 and will last until October 25, is taking place mainly in Northern Luzon and involves over 2,300 personnel, with more than 1,000 US Marines and over 1,100 AFP and PNP personnel. They are joined by military personnel from Japan, South Korea, UK, Australia, and France, while Thai and Indonesian personnel have sent observers.
“These exercises are not simply about building ‘interoperability’ or delivering ‘humanitarian assistance’; they are about ensuring the Philippine military, along with those of other US client states like Japan, Australia, the UK, and France, will be subsumed under US command in the event of a US-instigated hegemonic war,” stated P1NAS spokesperson Antonio Tinio. “At the behest of the US, Pres. Marcos Jr. has dutifully pursued the opening up of the country to the presence of a host of military forces from various nations. This is a blatant compromise of our national sovereignty.”
The US military build-up in the Philippines, marked by the development of additional military bases in the country, larger and more frequent joint exercises, and deployment of advanced weapons systems such as the Typhon missile system, Predator drones, and F-22 jets, is in truth a strategic maneuver to ensure its dominance in Asia and beyond. This is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of US military aggression, as evidenced by the escalating conflict in the Middle East. The US continues to support Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people and now backs Israel’s terrorist attacks on Lebanon, where civilians are indiscriminately targeted.
“The US has consistently used its military might to assert its hegemonic interests, causing widespread destruction and suffering,” Tinio emphasized. “The same playbook is being used in the Philippines and the broader Asia-Pacific region, with our country at risk of becoming a battleground for US-China hostilities.”
P1NAS calls for an immediate end to all joint military exercises in the Philippines and urges the government to prioritize genuine national defense and sovereignty over foreign military interests. The movement demands that the US withdraw its forces from Philippine soil and cease its military buildup in the region.
“We must unmask the true intent behind these exercises and resist any attempts to drag our country into a conflict that serves only the imperialist interests of the US,” Tinio declared. “We stand firm with the Filipino people in defending our homeland against both US hegemony and any external threats to our sovereignty.” #
