Malaya Movement USA denounces the Salaknib military exercises, which will be followed by the yearly Balikatan war games on April 21. These yearly war games have proven to be expensive, destructive to the environment and disruptive to the livelihood of peasants, farmers, and fisherfolk who reside in the areas where they happen. We strongly oppose Trump’s newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's visit to the Philippines, a pit stop in his Asia tour starting on March 28. Hegseth’s recent blunder in accidentally texting war plans to the media reveals the current US administration’s ineptitude and carelessness and does not bode well for the so-called “ironclad” partnership between the two countries. 

Malaya Movement USA condemns the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on July 30, 2024 between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro. In this meeting, $500 million in US foreign military financing of the Philippine military was announced as part of the effort to supposedly strengthen US-PH defense priorities and “modernize” the Armed Forces of the Philippines. An additional $128 million is being allocated towards infrastructure projects on seven of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) bases.

Today, hundreds of members of Malaya Movement USA echo the Filipino people’s desire for true sovereignty for the Philippines. The beginning of this year’s U.S.-Philippines Balikatan Exercise is our reminder that the Philippines is not our own but a token the Marcos administration is more than happy to pawn.

Malaya Movement USA stands in full defense of our sovereign waters in the Philippines in light of the recent collision between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the Ayungin Shoal on October 21. We condemn China’s incursion and aggression in the West Philippine Sea, and denounce President Biden’s statement invoking the Mutual Defense Treaty(MDT) against China as a result of the incident. The U.S. military’s posturing in this increasingly volatile region puts the Philippines in a dangerous position.

The Balikatan, or “shoulder-to-shoulder,” Exercises is an annual military event between the United States and the Philippines meant to reinforce the Philippines’ role as a U.S. military collaborator by increasing training, intelligence, and capacity to respond to external threats to U.S. interests in the Asia Pacific. In essence, the exercises are a theater for warfare and US military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Malaya Movement USA unequivocally asserts Philippine sovereignty against the Balikatan Military Exercises between the Philippines and the United States. We in the Malaya Movement USA condemn any provocation for escalation of hostilities and war mongering between the two superpowers. It is on this basis that we stand firmly that the Philippines does not stand to gain from Balikatan.