Revolutionary forces in Eastern Visayas vehemently reject the presence of US and other foreign troops in Tacloban City for the third leg of the Pacific Partnership 2026. The two-week exercise, where nearly a thousand local and foreign troops will convene in the name of “regional security” and “disaster response,” serve only to further entrench US hegemony in the Asia-Pacific and drag the region into open war.

No amount of classrooms, medical services, or so-called humanitarian assistance by the US military can sanitize their trampling upon of Philippine sovereignty. The Filipino people and the Taclobanons have not forgotten how in May, the US colluded with the traitorous Marcos Jr regime and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to secretly launch a Tomahawk missile from a civilian airport in Tacloban to explode in Nueva Ecija in Luzon. Millions of Filipinos in at least three regions were put in harm’s way throughout the low-skimming missile’s 48-minute, 640-kilometer flight. Fisherfolk in Tacloban rightly condemned the missile launch after they were barred from seafaring and making several days’ worth of income.

Nor can pretentious “humanitarian activities” obscure the vested economic interest of the US, including its military, in Philippine natural resources. The Eastern Visayas region remains in the shadow of the Pax Silica pact: through Marcos’ Executive Order 122 and the US-PH Critical Minerals Pact, the rich bauxite deposits in central-west and south-east Samar are being offered to wanton exploitation for their rare earth minerals. (It is worth noting that contracts for these mining operations are granted to a Romualdez-linked firm). Ironically, rare earths that can be extracted from bauxite, such as samarium, are used to build the Tomahawk missiles such as the one launched from Tacloban, as well as the fighter jets the 8th Infantry Division uses for its bombing sprees in the Eastern Visayas countryside. It is well known that American defense contractors have been racing to secure their supply of rare earths especially after China restricted exports of these in-demand raw materials since last year.

Adding to the irony, the destructive mining activities that the US-Marcos regime is fast-tracking in Samar with the help of the 8th ID and local bureaucrats will only worsen the effects of typhoons, floods, and other disasters that frequent the region. The hypocrisy of the “disaster preparedness” aims of the Pacific Partnership 2026 is further exposed especially since US military presence and interest in the Philippines are responsible for exacerbating the natural disasters in the country.

The people of Eastern Visayas know the ill intention behind every public relation stunt of the Pacific Partnership. They must do all to expose the hypocrisy of these exercises and US military presence in the Philippines. They must imbibe the spirit of their forefathers: Agustin Sumuroy of Palapag, the townspeople of Catubig, Balangiga, and the long line of Samareños and Leyteños that rose against American colonizers and oppressors for freedom and democracy.

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