The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns in the strongest terms the brazen US military takeover of the Oyster Bay in Palawan. The once peaceful community of small fishermen has now been overrun by US soldiers with their giant war arsenal.
The Oyster Bay now serves as a forward base for US imperialist provocations against China. It is just one of the latest in the long list of locations the Marcos regime has handed over to US armed forces, putting Filipino lives and livelihoods in even more danger.
Since 2020, the US has been quietly upgrading its facilities in Oyster Bay. Working with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the US developed the Oyster Bay Naval Detachment where it can dock, repair and resupply its naval warships. On March this year, the US Congress authorized the release of up to $5 million to complete repairs to the naval detachment so it could fully serve US manned and unmanned surface vehicles.
Hundreds of local fisherfolk have lost their sole source of livelihood as US warships and military exercises turn Oyster Bay’s waters into a toxic playground for US war games. Rich marine life and fragile coral reefs, the lifeblood of Palawan’s fisheries, are being destroyed. The environmental damage from US naval waste is both permanent and unacceptable.
Oyster Bay is now being used as a launchpad for so-called “freedom of navigation operations” of US military forces in the South China Sea. It serves the joint naval exercises being conducted by the US with Australia and Japan, in conjunction with operations from Subic Bay.
Oyster Bay now serves as a key node in the sprawling US military web across the Philippines—a network of military bases and facilities, ports, airfields, as well as storage facilities and factories for war. The recently announced plans to manufacture drones and produce ammunition in Aurora and Subic will further deepen US military entrenchment in the country.
The rapidly increasing US military presence in the Philippines is absolutely not about defending the country’s sovereignty. This is about turning the Philippines into a fortification for US imperialist hegemony and a springboard for the so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy, positioning the country as a key link in the US “first island chain” strategy to contain the growth of its imperialist rival China.
The Marcos regime’s gross subservience to US geopolitical strategy has allowed the US to drag the country into its hegemonic schemes and war plans. Marcos’ betrayal of the nation’s sovereignty has placed the country’s security in jeopardy. Regional security is under threat.
The Party firmly unites with the Filipino people in the fight against US imperialist aggression in the country. It is imperative that we raise our voices to make a powerful demand for the immediate dismantling of all US military bases, and the expulsion of all US forces from Oyster Bay, all of Palawan, and the entire Philippines. We must hold Marcos accountable and make him pay dearly for this betrayal.
The Filipino people must act now as nation’s sovereignty and future are at stake.
