š·Former Bayan Muna Congressman Carlos Isagani Zarate
Former Bayan Muna Congressman Carlos Isagani Zarate has hit the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between the US and the Philippines as another lopsided agreement, an added affront to the country’s sovereignty, and further proof of the Marcos government’s open US puppetry.
“The GSOMIA will expectedly become another lopsided deal that favors the US hegemonic interest but will gravely undermine our national sovereignty and independent foreign policy,” Zarate said.
“It is an added affront to our sovereignty and another glaring proof of the Marcos administration’s puppetry to US interests. Worse, this deal will also further escalate the militarization and tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)” Zarate added.
“This agreement would keep into wraps the target and deployment of the killerĀ Reaper drones and other US war systems and materiel in the country, even those banned by our Constitution like nuclear weapons. It is a dangerous path that threatens our national patrimony and the Filipino people’s well-being,” Zarate stressed.
According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) the GSOMIA will formalize real-time intelligence-sharing activities and form protocols for safeguarding top-secret information or technology transfer between the treaty allies.
The progressive leader urged the Marcos government to junk the GSOMIA and pursue an independent foreign policy that upholds national sovereignty and the interests of the Filipino people.
“We call on the Marcos administration to scrap this lopsided deal and pursue a truly independent foreign policy that upholds our national sovereignty and the interests of the Filipino people, not the imperialist agenda of the US and other foreign powers,” Zarate ended.#
