The Friends of the Filipino people in Struggle (FFPS) reaffirm the need to call for a globally coordinated campaign against the bombings by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and to stop all arms sales and military aid to the US-Marcos Philippine Government.
Stop the bombings in the Philippines! End US aggression in the Philippines! Protect Filipino communities against US-Marcos’ tyranny! #StopTheBombingsPH
During the US-Duterte administration there were more than 193 bombings, shelling and strafing violations. The US-Marcos regime has done nothing to hold Rodrigo Duterte accountable for his crimes or to provide help to the communities that were victims of these violations. In fact, the October 2022 bombings in Himamaylan, where approximately 18,000 residents had to be evacuated, and violations in other parts of the Philippines show that the US-Marcos administration has continued it’s predecessors terrorization of the Filipino people through the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and all its armed elements perpetrating all forms of human rights violations.
With the current increase of US aggression in the Philippines, there is an even more urgent need for the international community to intensify the call to stop the bombings.
The US-Marcos regime has tightened it’s military ties with the US, functioning as a puppet to US imperialist war-mongering in Asia and to the ‘counter-insurgency’ war in the Philippines. It has reasserted the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which obliges the U.S. and the Philippines to help defend each other in major conflicts, and expanded the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The EDCA allows visiting American forces to stay indefinitely in rotating batches in barracks and other buildings they construct within designated Philippine camps with their defense equipment, giving de-facto US-control over now 9 military bases in the Philippines and allowing US military presence in the Philippines.
The Philippines is by far the largest recipient of U.S. military assistance in the Indo-Pacific region, having received around $1.14 billion worth of planes, heavy-lift helicopters, armored vehicles, small arms, and other military equipment and training from 2015 to 2022, including $475.3 million worth of foreign military financing. These weapons are used against the Filipino people by the US-Marcos regime. It is the poor farmers’ and indigenous communities in the remote areas that are hit the hardest. Communities and mountains are targeted indiscriminately, and the terror that these aerial bombings, shelling and strafing caused the Filipino people is unfathomable.
The supposed aim of the systematic attack is to “destroy the New People’s Army (NPA)”. But history has proven that as long as there is inequality and as long as the root causes of the problems of the Filipino people are not addressed, all forms of resistance will continue.
As the Filipino people continue to resist these attacks in all fronts, there is an urgent need for the global Friends to expose, condemn and oppose intensifying US aggression in the Philippines and state terrorism by the US-Marcos government.
Our Calls
We call upon the international community to join us in our demand to stop the bombings, end US aggression and to pursue genuine peace.
- Call for an immediate end to the bombings by the US-Marcos regime.
- Demand a stop to all arms sales and military aid to the US-Marcos Government.
- Demand an end to US aggression in the Philippines, including the withdrawal of all US military forces.
- Demand that the US-Marcos government seriously heeds the people’s call for genuine solutions to the root causes of the socioeconomic problems of the Philippines, instead of using public funds on war efforts against the Filipino people.
Take Action
- Organize demonstrations to demand an end to the bombings in the Philippines, a stop to the arms sale and military aid that enable this state terrorism and an end to US aggression in the Philippines.
- Letter writings, meet-ups, conferences to participate and learn more about the campaign.
- Fundraising for projects and groups that support victims of the bombing campaigns and affected social groups.
- Create and distribute propaganda that exposes and counters US-Marcos’ tyranny and US aggression in the Philippines.
- Direct actions and art initiatives to disrupt the military industry and force local governments to take action, such as the example of PalAction shutting down Elbit in the UK.
- Petitions to the Parliament and representatives of governments not to sell arms and not to give military aid to the US-Marcos Government.
- Petitions to members of the Philippine Congress and Senate to demand a stop to the bombings.
Our Chants:
“Stop the bombings in the Philippines!”
“Stop arms sales and military aid to the Philippines!”
“We support the Filipino aspiration: National Liberation against US imperialism!”
“End US-Marcos state terrorism in the Philippines!”
”Stop aiding Marcos and his fascist pawns!”
“End US aggression in the Philippines!”
“Militant action against US imperialist war-mongering!”
“Defend the land, defend life!”