Monday, April 4, 2016

Militants troop to US Embassy to protest Balikatan exercises

From GMA News (Apr 4): Militants troop to US Embassy to protest Balikatan exercises
 


As the 32nd Balikatan Exercises commenced, militant groups converged before the United States (US) Embassy in Manila Monday morning to call for the cancellation of the said exercises.

The groups, composed of Kilusang Mayo Uno, League of Filipino Students and Bayan Muna, among others, also called on the government to junk treaties between the Philippines and the US including the Mutual Defense Treaty, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and Visiting Forces Agreement.


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Militanteng grupo, nagprotesta sa @usembassymanila kasabay ng pagsisimula ng Balikatan exercises. | via Carlo Mateo
According to a report by Dano Tingcungco on Balitanghali, the group claimed that such treaties, including the Balikatan exercises, would only make the country a pawn of the US in advancing its interests in Asia.

Meters away from the US Embassy, the police, armed with shields and truncheons, blocked the path of the protesters, but no confrontation occurred.

The police did not stop protesters from burning a US flag during their program.

Thousands of US and Filipino soldiers will take part in the 11-day Balikatan exercises launched Monday.

1 comment:

  1. This is Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front group anti-US/US military propaganda activity. It occurs annually in conjunction with Exercise Balikatan.

    Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU-May One Movement) is a CPP-associated labor federation, the League of Filipino Students (LFS) is a radical student front and Bayan Muna (BM-People First) is a party list political party and a CPP political front. KMU and LFS are members of the main multisectoral, umbrella front organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-New Patriotic Alliance). BM or bayab Muna is a political spinoff from BAYAN.

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