Bagong Alyansang Makabayan flags the building of a permanent US-backed counterterrorism center in Pagadian as an alarming sign of increasing US militarism and intervention in the country under the government Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
It is another facility that the US is installing for its expanding military operations in the southern part of the country, aside from its EDCA site in Cagayan de Oro and long-running presence in Zamboanga City.
The training hub will enable the US to plan, direct, and carry out terrorism activities in the region and other parts of the country. It will facilitate direct and indirect participation of the US in the government’s brutal counterinsurgency operations under the guise of combating terrorism. It will lead to grave human rights abuses, intense militarization of rural communities, and bigger corruption in the security sector, the LGUs involved, and the Marcos administration.
Instead of allowing the US to build this center, it should be held accountable for its overt and covert acts of terrorism in the country, especially in Mindanao where it historically funded special ops to instigate and inflame local violence.
We condemn Marcos for treasonously colluding with the US government in turning the country into a forward operating base of the US military. Aside from giving the US four more EDCA sites, Marcos allowed the US to establish naval facilities in Palawan and Batanes, missile storage hubs, refueling depot, logistics center for the US Marines, and an ammunition factory.
From Pax Silica in Central Luzon to counterterrorism center in Zamboanga, the US military is ramping up its presence across the country for war preparations. From Luzon to Mindanao, the US military is laying the groundwork for making the country a launching pad for its acts of aggression in the Asia-Pacific.
Bayan calls on all Filipinos to oppose, resist, and dismantle the US war machine that is now being rolled out in various parts of the country. Let us fight for genuine peace and sovereignty by kicking out the US bases, expelling foreign troops, and demanding an independent foreign policy.
No to US terrorism center in Pagadian!
War criminals and US terrorists, not welcome in the Philippines!
Dismantle EDCA!
Shut down Pax Silica!
Imperyalismo, ibagsak!