Dozens of Filipino activists demonstrated against US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s February 2 visit to Manila.
“The Filipino people do not need more US troops and military facilities in the country. That will only serve to increase tensions in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. And the deployment of more US military and bases in the country will drag down Philippines to a conflict that is between China and the United States,” said Teddy Casiño, a former legislator from the left-wing Bayan Muna party.
Local media reported that the activists demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the Armed Forces, in Manila, where Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense of the United States, and his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Gálvez, met to sign the expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The EDCA, signed in 2014 between the two countries, allowed the US to use five Philippine military bases, key to US influence interests in the Asia-Pacific area. Now, with the expanded agreement, US troops will have access to four more military bases, the locations of which have not yet been disclosed.
The agreement was signed shortly after Floyd met with the newly elected President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986), at the Malacañang Palace.
