Plans to expand US military presence in Manila assailed Tuesday, 31 January 2012 22:44

MANILA: The plan to expand United States military presence in the Philippines as agreed during the January 27 bilateral dialogue in Washington, DC has been assailed by the country’s groups but defended by officials of the government of President Benigno Aquino, III.

Teodoro Casino, a party-list member of the House of Representatives representing Bayan Muna (Country First), said that there is no need for the expansion of US military presence in the country. He even called for a congressional probe into the deal.

“We were able to get rid of the US bases and we are still fighting against the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), we do not need the government to once again sell out our sovereignty,” Casino said in a statement. The VFA, signed in l999, allows the temporary stay in the country of American military forces but only during joint military exercises and other non-combatant operations. Casino said that the review of the VFA, which the Aquino administration has agreed to, has not even started yet but is going to a disadvantageous agreement.

According to Casino, the US move to reassert its military presence in the Pacific Ocean is not merely intended to block China’s so-called increasing dominance in the region but “to stave off the US floundering economy.” Other groups also denounced the plan for increased military cooperation with the US. Renato Reyes, secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Nationalist Alliance), has assailed the port calls in Manila and Cebu of two American warships, saying these “were already part of the heightened US power projection in Asia as stated in the new US defense strategy.”

The US embassy in Manila said that the US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Wayne E Meyer was to make a port call in Manila over the weekend while the USS Chafee was to visit the port of Cebu. Reyes said that the US may not even need formal bases in the Philippines given the access and virtual basing opportunities that they have now under the VFA.

But Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said that while the Philippines would accept an increased US military presence in the country this would be in accordance with Philippine laws that ban the basing of foreign troops.

The Philippine star

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