On June 12, the Philippines’ false independence day, the Communist Party of the Philippines once again calls on all patriotic Filipinos and sectors of society to reject Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s regime, which obsequiously follows the dictates of US imperialism and its allies in Asia and NATO.
The Communist Party of the Philippines strongly condemns the recent signing of separate military agreements with Germany and New Zealand by the Marcos Jr regime, and its impending signing of agreements with Canada and France. These agreements—the Defense Cooperation Agreement with Germany and the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA), as well as the SOVFA with Canada—trample on Philippine sovereignty and will only bring more tensions to the Asia region.
Marcos’s servility is unparalleled in terms of the number and scope of favors he granted to American forces inside and around the Philippines, as well as in the number of military agreements entered into by his regime and the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines with the allies of US imperialism.
Under the framework of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, Marcos agreed to increase US military bases in the country through the EDCA in 2023. He and the AFP submitted to the Bilateral Defense Guidelines and normalized the sharing of sensitive intelligence data related to national security with the US through the signed Military Intelligence Sharing Agreement in 2024.
Also in 2024, he made an agreement with Japan, the US’s junior partner in Asia, to allow the unlimited entry and exit of Japanese troops in the Philippines under the Reciprocal Access Agreement. This year, he signed a “defense cooperation” agreement with Germany and a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with New Zealand. He is also set to sign separate SOVFAs with Canada and France.
Through these agreements, Marcos is giving foreign troops unlimited access over Philippine resources, land, airspace, and waters. He allowed not only American troops but also Japanese, Australian, New Zealander, Canadian, French, and other US-invited forces to roam freely in the Philippines with almost no accountability to local rules and laws.
According to Valbuena, Marcos should be held accountable, along with his officials Gilberto Teodoro and Gen. Romeo Brawner, for using the Philippines as a launching pad for the wars of powerful countries.
“The Filipino people must fight for a foreign policy that is truly independent and rejects foreign wars, focused on peaceful diplomacy, not on being a military base for other countries’ wars.”
“This is a big mistake,” said Marco Valbuena, chief information officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines. “Marcos is encouraging all US collaborators to trample on Philippine sovereignty and use the nation and Filipinos as pawns in the US-China rivalry. This further isolates the Philippines from its neighboring countries in Asia.”
The CPP calls on the Filipino people to reject these military agreements and fight for a foreign policy that defends our sovereignty, promotes peace, and serves the interests of the Filipino people—not the imperialist powers.