The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) considers the Trump-Marcos Jr. meetings taking place from July 20 to 22 in Washington, DC as anything but a meeting of equals. The purpose of the visit as described by the Philippines is to discuss how the two countries can further deepen their security and economic engagements, including what Philippine Ambassador Romualdez has called “peace through deterrence.” In reality the meeting represents the subservience of the GRP to the US, and the development of the “peace through deterrence” strategy will only bring more war and destruction to the Filipino people.
This meeting follows the growing trend of increasing militarization in the Philippines. The US and its allies have ramped up preparations for war against China, boosting mutual defence agreements, and conducted large-scale combat exercises in the Philippines, with increasing frequency.
These recent moves include the February 2023 agreement to place four more US military bases in the Philippines – three of them oriented towards Taiwan – under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Arrangement (EDCA). In April 2024, the US military began deploying in Northern Luzon a new offensive intermediate-range land-based missile system known as Typhoon, which is capable of reaching large population centres in mainland China. In June 2025 the US House appropriations committee announced the intention to establish a forward-based munitions factory and storage facility at Subic Bay, Philippines, and this July the US announced plans to build two new ship repair facilities near the disputed West Philippine seas.
“The US military build up in the Philippines is not defensive nor geared towards peace, but aggressive war preparations that put the Filipino people at risk to be collateral damage in a war with China. The Filipino people don’t want to be a battlefield for a great power war,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy. “ICHRP urges all nations in the region to de-escalate the frightening military buildup towards war,” said Murphy.
The Marcos-Trump meeting takes place following intensive attacks from Trump against poor and working Filipinos, both in the Philippines and in the US. On July 9, the White House announced a 20 per cent tariff taking effect on August 1st of this year, which disproportionately impacts peasants and workers in the Philippines. Within the United States, the Trump administration continues an all-out attack on migrants, including the detention, inhumane and illegal treatment of Filipino migrants. The imposition of tariffs, the maltreatment of Filipino migrants — unchallenged by Marcos Jr — and the increasing US military presence in the Philippines will further plunge the most marginalized in Philippine society into poverty.
Due to the major socioeconomic issues of the Philippines, the country remains embroiled in a long-standing civil war. But the US, Australia, Canada, Japan and other Western allies ignore gross violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law occurring in the Philippines in favour of deepening military cooperation and arms sales to the Philippines as part of their broader preparation for war against China.
Peace in the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region will not come through the US “deterrence” strategy. Genuine peace must be based on justice which necessitates the undoing of the unequal US-Philippines relationship most characterized by US economic coercion and military dominance of the country. #
