On February 6, a U.S. military-contracted plane crashed in Mindanao, Philippines, killing four Americans: one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors, unequivocally exposing the active role of the United States in the “counterinsurgency” war against the Filipino people and highlighting the involvement of U.S. military personnel and equipments in the war effort.
According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs, “The aircraft was providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies. The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of US-Philippine security cooperation activities.” But there is nothing ‘routine’ about a U.S. military-contracted plane conducting operations in the Philippines. The mere presence of U.S. military forces in the Philippines—especially their involvement in military operations—blatantly violates the Filipino people’s independence, and should be condemned as acts of U.S. imperialist aggression, military intervention and war in the Philippines.
The crash of a U.S. military-contracted plane in the south of the Philippines, further concretizes and proves the indispensable role of the United States in the design and implementation of the ongoing “counterinsurgency” war. It underlines the evidence presented to the International People’s Tribunal of 2024 on war crimes in the Philippines, which highlighted the complicity of the United States in International Humanitarian Law and human rights violations committed against the Filipino people, such as the use of indiscriminate bombings of rural communities, enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and many other war crimes.
Throughout his presidency, the U.S.-backed Marcos Jr. administration has proven to be an agent to U.S. imperialism, expanding U.S. military presence in the Philippines. This includes reaffirming the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, expanding the number of U.S. military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) to nine confirmed sites, increasing joint military exercises and “security collaboration,” as well as boosting military aid—an additional $500 million in 2024 and a proposed $2.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) over five years. This also includes the secret deployment of U.S. Typhon missile systems to an undisclosed location within the country.
While many of these military cooperations are disguised as supposedly efforts to “counter” aggression by China, their real target is the crushing of the Philippine revolutionary movement, ensuring that the Philippines remains a tool in U.S. imperialism’s pursuit of dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. It is the Philippine revolution that forms the main stumbling block to the United States fully using the Philippines as its pawn—which is why they seek to destroy it.
The continued and expanded presence and operations of U.S. military forces in the Philippines, and their support and direction to the Marcos Jr. administration and the AFP, and the “counterinsurgency” war, must be condemned and opposed as clear acts of U.S. imperialist aggression, military intervention and war. The United States, the AFP, and the Filipino government are the most fervent enemies of a just and lasting peace in the Philippines.
Internationally, we must expose the ongoing U.S. imperialist war in the Philippines and counter it with all our might.
We call on the international community to join us in demanding an end to U.S. aggression and war in the Philippines. This includes calling for:
- The withdrawal of all U.S. military forces
- A stop to all arms sales and military aid to the U.S.-Marcos government
- An immediate end to the bombings by the U.S.-Marcos regime
- Supporting the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation
This February marks the 126th anniversary of the Philippine-American war and the start of U.S. imperialist domination in the Philippines. This month, we call on all members and allies to hold rallies and other protest actions at U.S. embassies, U.S. government buildings, and other institutions of U.S. imperialism. Hold fora and community gatherings exposing the role of U.S. imperialism and war in the Philippines. Call on the support of allies to expose to local government officials the Marcos Jr. subservience to U.S. imperialism and demand to support the ending of arms sales and military aid to the Philippines.