Bagong Alyansang Makabayan demands the abrogation of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, which the Philippines signed 75 years ago.
MDT signifies and enables the continuing US military intervention in the country.
Even after the historic rejection of the bases treaty in 1991, the MDT was retained, which allowed the US military to return by deploying rotational troops and establishing facilities under new lopsided deals and arrangements with successive puppet governments.
There is nothing mutual or beneficial in the MDT for the Philippines, despite the claim of subservient Filipino politicians and apologists of US imperialism that it enhanced the country’s security, peace, and development.
For the past 75 years, the MDT laid the framework that reinforced the country’s neocolonial status. The Subic and Clark bases were used as staging grounds for the acts of aggression of the US during the Cold War era, especially its genocidal bombing of the Indochina Peninsula at the height of the Vietnam War.
The MDT provided the supposed legal cover for the costly, disruptive, and provocative military and war exercises of the US in the Philippines. It was cited as the basis for the signing of the Visiting Forces Agreement in 1999, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement in 2014, and the Bilateral Defense Guidelines in 2023.
Under the US-Marcos Jr regime, the MDT facilitated the expansion of US military presence and operations across the country. Aggressive US war preparation is maliciously presented as compliance with the MDT, even if the conversion of the country into a forward operating base of the US military endangers the local population, undermines national security, and escalates tension in the region.
75 years of the MDT have clearly demonstrated that its real objective is to entrench US hegemony at the expense of our sovereignty. The MDT was supported by fascist and corrupt regimes, which relied on US support to consolidate political control. This is evident under the current Marcos presidency, which is desperately dependent on US backing to survive public outrage and the political crisis triggered by massive corruption linked to debt and infrastructure spending. Marcos is also colluding with his US patrons for the intensified sell-out of the country’s critical minerals and other land resources through the Pax Silica, which would lead to the establishment of an industrial hub intended to boost the needs of the US military.
Bayan calls on all Filipinos to honor our heroes who fought for the country’s independence by rejecting US militarism and demanding the urgent abrogation of the MDT. Upholding the MDT is a grave insult to our freedom fighters. Let us carry forward the struggle for genuine freedom, democracy, and peace.
Abrogate the Mutual Defense Treaty!
No to US war and plunder!