Despite former President Duterte efforts to increase good relations with China, tensions between the two countries have risen considerably.
Today, President Marcos Jr is steering the Philippines back into the arms of their longtime ally, the US.
An Island for US Military
The Philippines has been riddled with American military bases since WW2.
Although many of these bases have been terminated and reconstructed for the public, there are 9 active US military bases today.
5 bases operate under the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). An additional 4 bases have recently been given access by President Marcos Jr. despite the disapproval of other local government leaders.
Is the US an ally of the Philippines?
The US has a horrible track record for supporting its ally. Most of their allies usually pay a heavy price.
Notably, Russia, China, Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine have had their economy and sovereignty negatively impacted as a result of US friendship.
For Russia and China, it took decades of painful change to regain their economic and military power. While Iraq and Libya continue to struggle to this day. Ukraine’s fate is still undecided as the US continue to push them into a losing war.
The Philippines is at risk of becoming Ukraine
During a US Press National Club Forum, Scott Ritter an experienced US military veteran and arms inspection expert was asked about the Philippines’ friendship with the US. Including a possibility of a false flag operation that would throw the Philippines into an unwanted war with China.
Scott Ritter answered: “Please understand that for the Filipino people, this is a recipe for disaster. You think America is your friend, and so too did the Ukrainian people. Friends don’t let friends die… America has never been the friend of the Ukrainians and we are not the friends of the Filipinos. We are using you!
You are a tool. You are nothing but a tool and will be discarded, usually after a war that will devastate you. We are using you to gain some sort of momentary leverage over the Chinese.
We will fail. The Chinese will win. And you will be destroyed. It’s time for the Filipino people to pressure their government to sit down and engage the Chinese government responsibly. China is not your enemy. China is your neighbour. China is your friend. China doesn’t want war.”
Scott Ritter ended his answer by advising the Philippines to use diplomacy, something the US has failed and forgotten, and to grow up from being a colonialist subject for the US.
2 Responses
What on earth is going on there in the Philippines? Things are escalating badly and seems that everything is going South.
The Philippines voted for another Marcos as their president. I don’t know Marcos Jr very well and hope he is nothing like his parents. However, it looks like he’s warming up to the US, which is always bad news for the average Filipino.