US troops double to record high in Balikatan 2023

April 3, 2023

The number of US troops involved in the Baliktan 2023 military exercises has doubled compared to previous years. This is because the Philippines remains strategically important for the US’ geopolitical dominance in the Indo-Pacific – as a center of global trade and commerce and amid China aggression in the West Philippine Sea. But this will not necessarily benefit the Philippines as it becomes another base for US hegemony and militarism.