The National Democratic Front (NDF)-North Central Mindanao Region strongly condemns the deployment of United States military forces to Cagayan de Oro City for the two-week Balikatan 2026 joint exercises, which commenced in early March 2026 at Lumbia Air Base—a designated Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) site.
This deployment is a blatant continuation of US imperialist intervention in Mindanao and the Philippines, serving to protect the interests of monopoly capital and its local compradors, landlords, and bureaucrat capitalists under the Marcos Jr. puppet regime. The US military presence in Mindanao serves this function—securing critical minerals for tech production while displacing Indigenous communities.
Continuing history of US military intervention in Mindanao
The history of US military presence in Mindanao is stained with blood and betrayal. In March 06, 1906, the Bud Dajo massacre in Sulu saw US troops kill hundreds of Moro men, women, and children who had taken refuge in a crater. In 1913, the Battle of Bayang in Lanao saw US forces massacre Moro defenders who resisted American colonial occupation. These atrocities were not anomalies—they were systematic expressions of US imperialist violence against the Muslim and Indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
This bloody legacy continues to the present day. In 2010, 33-year old Gregan Cardeno from Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, was found dead inside the Joint Special Operation Task Force (JSOTFP) military headquarters in Marawi City, where he worked as an interpreter. His wife Myrna testified that Cardeno had sent distressed calls before his death, crying and asking if she would still accept him if he went home. Both US troops and the Philippine National Police ruled his death as suicide, but his family and progressive groups demanded justice, knowing it was unlikely that Cardeno would kill himself after expressing fear and distress. Cardeno’s death, like the death of a Philippine Army officer a month later, renewed calls to junk the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
In 2017, during the Marawi Siege, US military forces provided intelligence, logistical support, and aerial reconnaissance to AFP operations. The government claimed this was counter-terrorism cooperation, but it was the people of Marawi who bore the brunt of the destruction—over 1,000 killed, 200,000 displaced, and entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble. The US military presence enabled the siege operations that devastated a predominantly Muslim city, further entrenching the narrative that US troops serve foreign interests at the expense of Filipino lives.
Since the return of US troops to Mindanao in 2002 through Balikatan 02-1, the US military has maintained a permanent presence under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). On November 1, 2009, US soldiers took part in combat operations in the hinterlands of Bukidnon, specifically in Quezon, Valencia, and Malaybalay, engaging in firefights with the New People’s Army (NPA) and committing fascist acts against residents.
Balikatan 2026 amid US wars of aggression
The current Balikatan 2026 deployment of 50–60 US troops to Lumbia Air Base continues this pattern. Major General Michele Anayron of the 4th Infantry Division claims the troops are there for “humanitarian assistance and disaster relief” (HADR) training. This is a lie. As we saw in September 2009 regarding the Typhoon Ondoy response, the US military uses disasters and humanitarian pretexts to “show off its heavy and high-tech war equipment” and normalize its presence. The concentration of HADR training at EDCA sites, rather than in civilian networks, exposes the true military nature of these operations.
The Marcos Jr. regime has intensified US military intervention, turning Mindanao into a forward operating base for US war preparations. A US surveillance aircraft (Beechcraft King Air 300) crashed in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, on February 6, 2025, killing a US Marine and three contractors. The USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group traversed sovereign waters between Leyte and Mindanao in December 2024. Construction of a runway and military facility at Balabac Island, Palawan, and plans for a US naval base at the 3,000-hectare PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental are underway.
These infrastructure projects, funded by $500 million in US military aid, are designed to facilitate counterinsurgency operations and project power in the region, directly threatening Philippine sovereignty. The masses are rightly alarmed that these exercises are not just about local defense but are dragging the Philippines into the escalating conflict in the Middle East. With rising tensions between the US, Israel, and Iran, the presence of US troops and prepositioned weapons in Mindanao makes the country a potential target for retaliation. The people of Mindanao refuse to be used as cannon fodder in a war that is not theirs.
The masses are also alarmed that the Philippines is being positioned as a forward base for US aggression in the West Philippine Sea and Taiwan Strait against China. The US uses the maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea as a pretext to expand its military footprint in the region. The deployment of US assets in Lumbia and the planned Tagoloan naval base transforms our soil into a forward base for US aggression, exposing Filipino families to the very real threat of being drawn into a US-China conflict over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The Marcos Jr. regime, serving US imperialist interests, has aligned the Philippines with Washington’s containment strategy against China, turning our country into a pawn in great power rivalry.
US plunder and exploitation of Mindanao’s resources
The US military presence in Mindanao is inextricably linked to the exploitation of the region’s natural resources and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. The “security umbrella” provided by US troops facilitates the expansion of extractive industries. A US-funded technical assistance program of Php280 million ($5 million) has been launched to develop the Philippines’ critical minerals sector, supporting mining ventures in Mindanao. A Florida-based American firm, Rizome PH, has invested $100 million in an engineered-bamboo manufacturing plant in Cagayan de Oro. Between 2022 and 2023, an additional 223,000 hectares were approved for mining, affecting roughly 45,000 indigenous individuals—a 62% increase from the previous year.
While proponents claim these investments create employment, so-called benefits have never reached affected indigenous communities. The Philsaga Mining Corp royalty dispute in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur proves this exploitation. We acknowledge that some workers in mining and plantation sectors face difficult choices between employment and land rights. We stand with workers in their struggle for fair wages while opposing the imperialist system that exploits both workers and land.
The Lumad peoples of Mindanao—including the Manobo, T’boli, and Higaonon communities—have borne the brunt of both military operations and extractive industry expansion. Nearly two-thirds of indigenous land claimed by mining firms for transition-metal projects lies in Mindanao. Approximately 45,070 indigenous people were affected by human rights abuses related to mining activities in 2023, a 62% increase from 2022. The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) has failed to protect ancestral lands.
Defend Philippine sovereignty against US military presence
The US military presence undermines Philippine sovereignty through multiple channels. The VFA and EDCA enable permanent foreign military presence despite constitutional provisions against foreign bases. A US Command and Control Fusion Center is embedded in the AFP Western Command, violating Philippine laws. EDCA sites are operated with significant US control, allowing for the prepositioning of weapons and troops. Conditional military aid allows the US to dictate weapons acquisition and deployment strategies. The late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s 2009 concerns regarding US troops potentially deploying to Mindanao have been realized through the current Balikatan exercises and the planned Tagoloan naval base.
The NDF-Mindanao calls on the Filipino people to wage an all-out, renewed, aggressive, and sustained campaign against continuing US military intervention in the country. We echo the call of patriotic Filipinos nationwide for the immediate abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, the Military Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), and all one-sided military treaties.
Indigenous communities and the broad masses must resist the land-grabbing and environmental destruction facilitated by US-backed mining and plantation projects. We call on the media and civil society to expose the connection between US military exercises and the acceleration of extractive industry permits in Indigenous territories. Local commands of the New People’s Army in Mindanao are closely monitoring the movements of US soldiers and their participation in counterrevolutionary and anti-people military activities.
We also urge the American people to demand the pullout of American troops permanently stationed in the Philippines and the cessation of US military interventionism in the country. We call on our Filipino compatriots in the US and other countries to help heighten public awareness in their host countries and internationally about US military intervention in the Philippines.
The US military presence in Mindanao is a threat to the sovereignty of the Filipino people and the rights of the Lumad people. The people of Mindanao must remain vigilant and united in the struggle for genuine national independence and social justice. The only way to end this cycle of imperialist aggression and feudal oppression is through the National Democratic Revolution, which will overthrow the three enemies of the Filipino people: US imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism.
Long live the struggle for genuine national sovereignty! Abrogate the VFA and EDCA! Do not drag the Philippines into the US-Israel aggression on Iran! Do not drag the Philippines into the US-China confrontation! Justice for Gregan Cardeno and all victims of US military abuses! Advance the national democratic revolution!
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