US military

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 […]

PH top recipient of US military, security aid in Southeast Asia

April 4, 2023

The Philippines has been receiving the biggest US military and security aid among Southeast Asian countries and is expected to still get the biggest amount in 2024. This is because the country plays a critical role in ensuring US dominance in the Indo-Pacific region.

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.

US aid and imperialism

October 21, 2016

For daring the US and others to withdraw their aid, President Rodrigo Duterte has been called a “psychopath”. For those whose way of thinking has been systematically warped by colonialism and neocolonialism/imperialism, it is plain madness. As a poor country, why would we shun the “altruism” of rich countries like the US? On the contrary, […]

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