The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today assailed the US government for seeking to establish another Subic Naval Base in the Philippines, a little smaller perhaps, to service ships and troops being "rotated" in the Asia-Pacific region.
"US plans to setup a mini-Subic military base, service facility or exclusive dock in the Philippines have become increasingly apparent as officials of the Obama government announced it is going to rotate at least 3,300 troops from its Okinawa base in Australia, Singapore, Hawaii and the Philippines.
Testifying before the US Senate Armed Forces Committee, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Obama government is working to forge an agreement with the Aquino regime similar with that forged with Australia allowing the US military to regularly dock American warships and maintain "rotational" presence.
US officials have announced earlier that it had scrapped initial plans to transfer its 8,000 troops based in Okinawa to its base in Guam, an American territory. Instead, it now plans to transfer only 4,700 troops to Guam and have the rest of its Okinawa-based forces "rotated" in the Asia-Pacific countries.
"The plan to set up facilities in the Philippines for the regular docking of American warships will practically bring back American military bases in the country," said the CPP. "The US wants to use the Philippines as a platform for its power-projection, China-containment and interventionist operations in the Asia-Pacific region."
"The biggest problem of the Filipino peopls is that the Aquino regime is all too willing to provide its masters with all the facilities it needs."
The matter of providing facilities for American troops on rotation in the Philippines was discussed in the Strategic Defense Dialogue (SDD) meeting earlier last month between officials of the US government and the Aquino regime. Aquino's officials have promised the American government that it would come up with concrete proposals for this plan.
An agreement to setup such a facility in the Philippines is one of the agreements that the US seeks to sign in the coming months. Such negotiations are being carried out in the dark by officials of the Obama and Aquino regimes are an affront to Philippine sovereignty.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today called on the Filipino people to vigorously oppose US imperialist machinations to set up facilities in the Philippines to accomodate thousands of American troops who are to be put on "rotation" in Asia-Pacific waters in the upcoming years.
"The Filipino people must fan the flames of patriotism and stand up against the imperialist machinations of the US to use the Philippines as a platform for their hegemonism," said the CPP.
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