Resist plan to allow US to re-establish military presence in Subic--CPP*
CPP Information Bureau
April 28, 2011
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today called on the Filipino people to vigorously resist any plan of the US and Aquino governments to reestablish military presence in Subic Bay, whether in the form of a military base or related facilities for the US military.
Last Tuesday, US Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran met with Philippine President Benigno Aquino after visiting the Subic Bay Freeport to be briefed about the situation in the former US military base. The US military is reportedly searching for alternative places in the Asia-Pacific region to establish bases in the face of growing opposition to their military bases in Okinawa, Japan where the US 7th Pacific Fleet is headquartered.
"Thirty years after the landmark repeal by the Philippine senate of the 1946 US-RP Military Bases Agreement (MBA), the US imperialists are again seeking to establish their military presence in Subic Bay. This will be a great historical reversal," said the CPP.
On September 16, 1991, the Philippine Senate voted to reject the proposed Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Security which would have effectively extended the 1946 US-RP Military Bases Agreement for another 10 years. For more than 50 years after granting "independence", the US imperialists retained control over close to 70,000 hectares covering the Subic Naval Base, Clark Air Base and several other military bases across the Philippines. The US-RP MBA is one of several unequal agreements between the US and the Philippines which include the 1956 US-RP Military Defense Treaty which obliges the Philippine government to side with the US in conflicts it gets into.
In 1998, however, the US and Philippine governments signed the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which allowed US military personnel to stay in the Philippines to be governed by a status of forces agreement (SOFA). These agreements have been taken advantage of by the US to maintain the 600-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF-Philippines) based within Camp General Navarro, headquarters of the AFP Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.
"If the Aquino regime acquiesces to the US government's plan to reestablish its facilities in Subic, it would be committing a grave historic act of treachery against the Filipino people," said the CPP. "US military presence in the Philippines is a direct affront and insult to Philippine sovereignty."
"By maintaining its presence in the Philippines, the US military continues to use the Philippines as a jumping board and base for the forward deployment of their units in order to intervene militarily in the Asia-Pacific region. The US continues to use the Philippines as a foil against the economic and military expansionism of China which the US regards as one of the biggest threats to US imperialist ultra-national interests," pointed out the CPP.
"The US JSOTF-Philippines also engages in counterinsurgency operations, directly and through the AFP. They act in accordance with the US Counterinsurgency Guide and seek to put an end to the Filipino's resistance against US economic, political and military dominance in the Philippines."
"The Filipino people should oppose the collaboration of the US government and Aquino regime to heighten US military presence in the country," added the CPP. "We must rekindle the spirit of patriotism in order to assert national sovereignty and confront the issue of US military interventionism and economic and political dominance."
* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/resist-plan-to-allow-us-to-re-establish.html
