CPP sees Duterte's move to veer away from US influence as 'mostly positive'

From GMA News (Oct 28): CPP sees Duterte's move to veer away from US influence as 'mostly positive'

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to shift his foreign policy away from the United States and closer to China was "mostly positive."

In a statement posted on its website on Friday, the CPP said the move "asserts the country's national sovereignty and independence from US dictates and impositions and thus opens potentials for substantial socio-economic changes and progress."

It also noted that ending the presence of US military in the Philippines "is the basic condition for transforming Philippine economy and society."

The CPP said it welcomes Duterte's declaration "of leaving the circle of US power," as well as his pronouncement that he wants all foreign troops out of the Philippines in two years.

The President must also "immediately follow through with steps to concretize this declaration," said the CPP, a political party founded on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism theories. It  leads the New People's Army that wages armed struggle in rural areas.

The CPP said these steps include asking the US "to dismantle all its military bases and facilities" inside the camps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and to "cancel all joint military exercises."

Duterte must also "abrogate" the agreements the Philippines has with the US, including the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), it added.
"He must also demand the US, as well as Japan and other countries, to stop its military patrols in the South China Sea to lower tensions which preempt and undermine bilateral and multilateral talks by countries with overlapping claims.

As to the matter of future humanitarian assistance, he can ask the US government to deliver these via civilian organizations (such as the Red Cross) or course this to the Philippine government," it also said.

On China

Meanwhile, the CPP also noted China's interest "in wrestling the Philippines from US sphere of influence," and said Duterte may use this to "draw Chinese and international support for programs supporting the people's livelihood."

"To help transform the Philippines into a solid bastion of anti-US imperialism, China can allow room for the development of the local economy in terms of its manufacturing capacity, rural production and expanding domestic market," it said.

'Unity vs. US imperialism'

Meanwhile, the CPP also urged Duterte to "promote the unity of the Filipino people behind the cause of anti-US imperialism."

It added that the move will include "a review of school books" to include "brutalities" of colonialism of the Americans "and continuing history of neo-colonialism."

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/586818/news/nation/cpp-sees-duterte-s-move-to-veer-away-from-us-influence-as-mostly-positive