Balikatan drills add to coastal hardship amid oil crisis

April 28, 2026

The government continues to expand military cooperation under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, pursuing deeper defense alignment with the US and foreign troop presence while failing to deliver urgent economic relief. This is reinforced by initiatives such as Pax Silica, positioned as an “economic security zone” to support US-linked supply chains. Together, these reflect a broader push to integrate the Philippines into US strategic and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Beyond EDCA

May 8, 2025

The Marcos Jr government is allowing the US military to access facilities beyond the agreed nine EDCA sites – like Subic Bay, a former US military base. This has effectively turned the Philippines into one big US military base, placing the country and Filipinos on the frontlines of a conflict they won’t benefit from.

Escalating US militarism in PH: Are we drilling for war?

May 2, 2025

FEATURES

Despite its claims of seeking peace and protecting Philippine sovereignty against China’s self-assertion, the US reveals its true intentions by preparing for wars in pursuit of its interests.

A continuing quest for freedom

June 12, 2023

Our foreign policy is for the security and development of the people, most of all. It should uphold peace over militarism, sovereignty over aggression, and development over empire.

BBM’s US trip: It’s all about US

May 9, 2023

The current Marcos Jr administration will have US support despite its deeply corrupt, dynastic and rights-violating character. Or at least as long as the US keeps getting what it wants, and the Philippines doesn’t ask for anything that the US doesn’t want to give — like real freedom and development, or sovereignty and independence.

US military presence in the Philippines, 2016 to April 2023

April 20, 2023

Despite the Duterte administration’s posturing against the US in 2016, the global superpower has essentially maintained a huge military presence in the Philippines until today. Cumulatively, from 2016 to April 2023, there have been a total of 227 drills: 68 sea-related, 116 air-related and 143 land-related. US troops are also currently located in 9 EDCA […]

EDCA: Overstating economic gains

June 20, 2014

Government is clearly exaggerating the supposed economic gains from EDCA while concealing the fact that negotiators gave too many unjustifiable perks to the US