“All missile systems […] should be immediately removed since they endanger our communities and undermine our national security.”
CAGAYAN DE ORO — Progressive groups denounced the firing of a United States (US) missile within Philippine soil under this year’s Balikatan.
The International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS) Philippines viewed the launching of a Tomahawk missile from Tacloban Airport to Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, on early Tuesday, May 5, as a clear simulation of a real strike capability, reiterating its concern that the United States’ continuing intervention could position the country as a potential target of US rivals, including China.
“[T]he country is being dragged into wars that do not serve the interests of the Filipino people,” said Arnold Padilla, ILPS Philippines spokesperson.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed the use of the US’ Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system armed with a Tomahawk missile in line with Balikatan 2026, the largest joint military exercises between troops from the Philippines, the US, and partner nations.
In a report by ANC, the military claimed that the missile launch had no high explosive as they were measuring its accuracy. It reportedly hit its intended target—within the grounds of Fort Magsaysay, approximately 630 kilometers in air distance from Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City, Leyte.
Satellite imagery from Google Earth
Padilla said that the live firing of a long-range cruise missile is a “direct rehearsal for war, projecting US military power from Philippine soil, obviously aimed toward China and other potential targets across the region.”
“It signals a dangerous escalation that places the Filipino people on the frontlines of conflicts driven by US strategic and narrow geopolitical interests,” Padilla said.
Sonny Africa, executive director of think tank Ibon Foundation, wrote in a Facebook post that it is almost the same air distance from Basco, Batanes, to the coastline of Fujian, China.
The US and Philippine military forces reportedly deployed an anti-ship missile system under the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) in Basco, Batanes, in line with the Balikatan as well.
Satellite imagery from Google Earth
Prior to the firing, the Philippine Coast Guard in Eastern Visayas issued an advisory warning of a three-day missile-related activity starting May 5.
However, a multisectoral alliance questioned the Philippine military for conducting the activity within a civilian facility, as well as the need for an exercise involving a Tomahawk missile—the same “precision-guided” deadly weapon allegedly used by US military forces to bomb a school in Iran that resulted in the killing of more than 100 people, according to Amnesty International.
“All missile systems […] should be immediately removed since they endanger our communities and undermine our national security,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said in a statement.
Bayan USA also expressed rage as well as concern that the launch could have killed Filipinos. “The Philippines is not the US’ shooting range.”
With the voting for a seat in the United Nations Security Council approaching, Bayan USA said people of conscience around the world must protest in opposition against Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ‘s bid for a seat in the UN SC.
“The Tomahawk missile launching is just the latest proof that the Marcos regime and its US imperialist masters are the number one security threat to the Filipino people, and the entire Philippines,” the group stressed.
Meanwhile, party-list representatives Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers, Sarah Jane Elago of Gabriela Women’s Party, and Renee Co of Kabataan filed a House resolution on Wednesday, May 6, condemning the missile-launching exercise, which, they said, constitutes a violation of the Philippine sovereignty and the international humanitarian law. (AMU, RVO)
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