We deplore the moral bankruptcy and utter foolishness of the Marcos Jr. administration as it participates in the US-led multinational parternship to establish a manufacturing supply chain for the weapons used in the genocidal wars to maintain US hegemony.
Through its 16-nation Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience, the US is pushing to set up a manufacturing hub for solid rocket motors used to power guided missiles, as well as the production of drones and ammunition in the Asia-Pacific. In short, the subservient governments in Asia will pour scarce resources in order to make the weapons used by the US – alone or with its allies, notably Israel – to wreak unprovoked devastation on Iran, commit genocide against the Palestinians and invade Venezuela to take control of its oil. No doubt these weapons will be used as the US drags the whole region into a war with China, ostensibly over Taiwan. This is the kind of foreign investment the US brings to its so-called allies, outsourcing the manufacture of its weapons of mass destruction to be used against the people of the world.
We condemn the Marcos Jr. administration’s offer to host a facility to load, assemble and package 30mm cannon rounds for the US military and its clients. Not only does it place the local population at risk of missile and drone strikes in the event of war. This is utter foolishness even from a purely economic lens. The destruction by Iran of military bases and strategic economic infrastructure directly tied to the US in the Gulf states shows what’s in store for any area in the Philippines hosting and servicing the US military. The current war has also exposed how the US cravenly left its puppet regimes in the Gulf, from Bahrain to Kuwait to United Arab Emirates and Oman, to fend for themselves against the onslaught of Iranian missiles drones. Like these Gulf clients, as well as South Korea — unceremoniously stripped by the US of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) anti-ballistic missiles in favor of Israel — the Philippines will find that the US “ironclad” commitment is nothing but hot air.
Despite the emirates in the Gulf having the resources required to put up billion-dollar air defenses, their oil and petrochemical industries are in flames. Meanwhile, the Philippines has none. Locating the ammunition facility in Subic or Bataan, for example, would turn these areas into a no-man’s land for future investors. What foreign investor would take the risk of pouring long term capital in areas that are in the crosshairs of China’s missiles and drones in the event of a war with the US?
We denounce the Marcos Jr. administration for participating in the US-led partnership to manufacture the weapons that US imperialism will use so it can continue to violate international law, steal other countries’ resources, and commit mass murder with impunity. We oppose manufacturing of US weapons on our soil, call for the withdrawal of all US and other foreign troops, bases and weapons systems on our land and seas and stand for a truly independent foreign policy.
By Rep. Antonio Tinio | Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list