The National Democratic Front-North Central Mindanao Region (NDF-NCMR) strongly condemns the deployment of US troops to Cagayan De Oro for the two-week Balikatan 2026 joint exercise that began on March 8 at Lumbia Air Base, an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) site.
A US warship docked at the Macabalan pier on March 15 in Cagayan de Oro, bringing additional US troops. According to the 590th Air Base Group, around 100 troops will participate in the “Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Training” alongside Philippine troops. The activity ends on March 28.
Residents fear the arrival of US troops in the city. They worry it could drag the city, and the entire Philippines, into the ongoing geopolitical tensions in Iran and the Middle East.
The NDF-NCMR exposes the lie that the province will host only “humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training.” It states that US troops used Typhoon Ondoy in September 2009 as a pretext to flaunt their large and advanced war technology and normalize their presence. The concentration of training at EDCA sites exposes the true militarist nature of their operations.
US military facilities in the country are multiplying. This include the planned naval base on the 3,000-hectare property of the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental. Infrastructure projects receive funding from $500 million in US military aid designed to facilitate counterinsurgency operations and project power in the region, directly threatening Philippine sovereignty.
The NDF-NCMR states that sending US troops to Lumbia and the planned naval base in Tagoloan are transforming the city and province into a forward base for US aggression. This endangers Filipinos and drags the country into US-China conflicts in Taiwan and the South China Sea.
US plunders natural resources in Mindanao
The NDF-NCMR links US troop presence to the plunder of natural resources and the seizure of ancestral lands in Mindanao. US troops’ “security umbrella” facilitates the expansion of mining-intensive industries. The US launched a ₱280 million ($5 million) technical assistance program to develop critical minerals mining and support mining businesses in Mindanao. Florida-based company Rizome PH invested $100 million in a bamboo manufacturing plant in Cagayan De Oro. Between 2022 and 2023, mining was approved for 223,000 hectares in Mindanao, impacting the livelihood and land of nearly 45,000 indigenous people. Companies boast that mining creates jobs, but there are no benefits for adversely affected indigenous communities.
Mindanao’s Lumad, including Manobo, T’boli, and Higaonon communities, suffer the ill effects of mining and military operations. Nearly 2/3 of ancestral lands seized by mining companies are located in Mindanao. An estimated 45,070 indigenous people victimized by human rights violations linked to mining in 2023 marks a 62% increase from 2022. The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) clearly fails to protect ancestral lands in the country.
The NDF-NCMR calls on the Filipino people to fight the US military’s continued intervention in the country. It also calls junking the Visiting Forces Agreement, EDCA, Military Logistics Support Agreement, and all lopsided military treaties. It states that Mindanao’s people must stay vigilant and unite to achieve genuine national freedom and social justice.
“Only through the national democratic revolution that will smash the three curses on the Filipino people—US imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism—will the cycle of imperialist aggression and feudal oppression of the people truly end,” the group explains.
