Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Panay and Bayan-Australia condemned the PH-Australia Kasangga 2025-02 war games (or Philippines-Australia Army-to-Army Exercise) officially launched on October 8 at Camp Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz. The two groups called the month-long war games a violation of national sovereignty that bring danger and harm to the livelihood of the masses.
Kasangga 2025-02 is the second in a series of war games between the Philippines and Australia this year. The first series of Kasangga war games was held in May in Mindanao.
Hundreds of 3rd ID and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel are participating in the ongoing war games. The exercises are claimed to strengthen “interoperability” and military cooperation between the ADF and the Philippine forces.
According to Bayan-Panay, using the term “interoperability” between the two armed forces conceals the war games’ real objective of reinforcing the Philippine Army as a reserve force in the war the US provokes in the Asia-Pacific region. Australia is a US partner in the AUKUS military alliance and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).
The group explained that actual events completely contradict the war games’ declared aim of developing the Philippines’ capacity to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights. “On the contrary, it worsens the country’s dependence on foreign powers and their allies, enforces a doormat foreign policy, and violates the sovereignty of the Filipino people,” the group said.
Bayan-Panay added that the war games with the Australian Army will only strengthen the Philippine troops’ serious threats against the Capiz communities’ safety and security. The Philippine Army and the 3rd ID are notorious for bloodstained crimes in Capiz and across Panay, including the Tumandok Massacre in December 2020.
“The presence of Australian troops only emboldens these state forces, aggravating the harassment, displacement, and terror inflicted on local and indigenous communities,” Bayan-Australia said. These same communities are bear the brunt of the Marcos regime’s “counter-insurgency” campaign that targets legitimate dissent, civilian organizations, and land and rights defenders.
Bayan-Australia is pushing for an immediate halt to the Kasangga war games, the expulsion of US, Australian, and other foreign troops from Philippine territory, and an end to the Australian government’s military funding and training to the armed forces of the Philippines.
The two groups called on the people of Capiz, Panay, and all peace-loving individuals around the world to oppose foreign military intervention, denounce the US-Marcos regime, and defend national sovereignty.
