Aquino regime serving as pawn of US in Asia-Pacific interventionism — CPP

CPP Information Bureau

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today denounced the Aquino government for “allowing the Philippines to be used as a pawn by the US in its interventionist plans in the Asia-Pacific region.” The CPP issued the statement after Malacañang announced yesterday that the US government will be conducting “more military exercises” in the Asia-Pacific region including the Philippines.

The Malacañang announcement was issued a few hours after Benigno Aquino III met with US Senators John McCain, Joseph Lieberman, Sheldon Whitehouse and Kelly Ayotte. The US senators held a three-day visit to meet key military and defense officials of the Aquino government.

“The US imperialists are having a heydey in their interventionism in the Philippines under the pliant puppet Aquino regime,” said the CPP. “Under Aquino, the US government has been conducting more and more ‘military exercises’ in the Philippines, specifically along the coast of Palawan that faces the South China Sea.”

“Under the guise of ‘strengthening Philippine naval defense’ and selling naval cutters to the Philippine government, the US has succeeded in permanently stationing its military ships in the South China Sea, manned by Philippine soldiers working under the direction of the US military,” said the CPP.

The CPP pointed out that there has been increasing political and military exchanges between the US and Philippine governments under the Aquino regime. The recent three-day visit by the McCain delegation is the third in less than a year. Just two months ago, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Philippines, while US Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran arrived earlier in April.

In turn, Philippine president Benigno Aquino III has visited the US thrice within sixteen months into his term, meeting key defense and military officials of the US. Aquino has also been twice summoned and flown on US military helicopters to American warships to be briefed by American officials.

“The increasing frequency of political and military exchanges between the Aquino and US governments are indicative of the increasing intervention of the US,” said the CPP. “It is no coincidence that this comes at a time that the US is eyeing greater presence in the Asia-Pacific region where it regards increased economic, diplomatic and political investments as the key to reviving the US economy.”

“The Filipino people must stand up against the puppet Aquino regime for allowing the US government to continue intensifying military intervention in the Philippines to the detriment of Philippine sovereignty,” said the CPP. “The Filipino people must oppose the US scheme to use the Philippines as a platform for its regional and global hegemonic aims.”

“Under the Aquino regime, the US military is able to carry out more frequent ‘joint military exercises’, fortify its military presence in the Philippines and increasingly employ the Philippine military to serve the regional and geo-political objectives of the US, specifically, in increasing its so-called power-projection activities in the South China Sea trade routes in order to counter the increasing economic, political and military power of China,” added the CPP.

“With the puppet Aquino regime, the US is able to increasingly make use of the entire Philippines as a military base where it has the full freedom to dock its ships, resupply, provide recreation facilities for its military personnel, launch operations, influence and direct the local armed forces, engage in local counter-revolutionary combat operations and others,” pointed out the CPP.

The CPP reiterated the need to put an end to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Military Defense Treaty of 1956 which bounds the Philippines to the military, political and diplomatic aims of the US.