Marcos Regime Stirs More Volatility With US, Japan Maritime Drill

9 December 2024

Instead of promoting regional stability, the Marcos regime is worsening a highly volatile situation in the region amid an ongoing dispute with China by holding another maritime drill with the US and Japanese military forces, Makabayan President Liza Maza said.

"Instead of promoting stability, the intervention and presence of foreign troops in our territory with an agenda against China provokes more tension in the region. Mas lalo tayong nalalagay sa alanganin," said Maza.

On December 6, the Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP), the US, and Japan conducted a so-called multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA) in an undisclosed part of the country's exclusive economic zone. It was the fifth such drill in the last six months.

"Marcos's flawed foreign policy that is subservient to the US imperialist agenda and dependent on its patronage escalates the tension with China. Our neocolonial ties with the US that Marcos perpetuate creates greater volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in the region. It seriously risks the country's national security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," Maza pointed out.

The former legislator is responding to the statement of the US Embassy in Manila ahead of the maritime drill that strengthened US-Philippines ties is crucial amid the challenges of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.

"What is urgent now is to de-escalate the situation with China by demilitarizing the West Philippine Sea and allowing space for sincere dialogue based on mutual respect and common interests. Turning our lands and waters as military bases and staging grounds for the US forces and their allies like Japan does not allow this with the ongoing US-China great power competition," Maza stressed.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said that participating units in the latest MMCA included a US Navy P-8A Poseidon from Patrol Squadron 47; the Philippine Navy BRP Andres Bonifacio and a C-90; and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Murasame-class destroyer JS Samidare (DD 106).

Maza, seeking a senate seat in next year's midterm polls, vowed to pursue an independent foreign policy as part of Makabayan's legislative agenda.

"Unahin natin ang interes ng Pilipino. Wala sa interes natin ang panghihimasok ng US," said Maza, a prominent feminist and nationalist, recognized for her work as an activist, parliamentarian, and driving force behind many campaigns for the country's sovereignty.

In the West Philippine Sea context, such foreign policy entails asserting Philippine sovereign and maritime rights over its exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf and compelling China to respect these rights through diplomatic and political negotiations. It also means demanding that military installations and presence in the West Philippine Sea, including those from China and the US, be immediately removed and that the high seas be kept open for free navigation.

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