Pak Sahafat – Human rights groups protested the establishment of US military bases in the Philippines and considered it to lead to further deterioration of the country’s situation.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report from Anatolia news agency, on Friday, some local and international humanitarian organizations protested the establishment of US bases in Cagayan province of the Philippines and announced that the recent agreement between Manila and the US to establish four new US military bases in this region will intensify the dire situation of human rights in this country.
The Asia-Pacific Research Network, which is composed of humanitarian research organizations, said in a statement on the ninth anniversary of the defense cooperation agreement signed in 2014 between the United States and the Philippines that the recent agreement between the two countries has increased human rights violations and land grabbing in regions host American forces.
Under a defense treaty signed between Manila and Washington in 2014, known as the Advanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, US forces were allowed to use five bases in the Philippines and store military equipment and materials there.
The number of these bases increased to 9 last February.
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During US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin’s visit to the Philippines in early February, the two sides announced an agreement that would allow the US military to use four additional bases in strategic areas in the Southeast Asian country.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has agreed to use three bases in the north of the country, a naval base and airport in Cagayan province and a base in Isabela province.
According to the Philippine presidential office, the Santa Ana naval base is located in Cagayan province, 400 kilometers from Taiwan, and the fourth base is located in the Balabac archipelago in the southern part of Palawan Island, near the South China Sea.
The US Department of Defense has approved these four sites. The President of the Philippines had previously defended his decision to strengthen and expand the presence of the United States military in the territory of this Asian country.
Despite China’s strong opposition, Marcos called this issue very important to defend the territorial integrity of his country. The Chinese government has warned that Marcos’ decision will drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical disputes.