US Intervention and Continuing Unpeace in the Philippines

A discussion presented in a webinar entitled “Unpeace in the Philippines Amidst the Clash of Empires: For a Global Movement of Mutual Solidarity,” organized by the Global Ecumenical Forum for JustPeace in the Philippines (GEF-PH) on 19 March 2026

During the Cold War era, the propaganda that the USSR and communism are bad was perpetuated by the US throughout the non-socialist world. The idea has become deeply entrenched and has made its way into the education of young minds. Clearly, the US is subtly shaping young minds through its proxy, called education.  Is this considered an intervention? Yes. Intervention could take an indirect form. This is one of them, and it has historical roots.

There is also the saying that, “If you want peace, you must prepare for war.” This is not only oxymoronic but contradictory. Peace is a huge concept, not just what is implied in that old phrase.  Peace is something that needs to be experienced and lived.

Psalms 85:10 says, “peace and justice shall embrace”.  In the Philippine context, what does this mean? From socio-political-psychological perspectives, peace values of the Filipino include: discipline and order; emotional stability including peace with oneself; freedom from fear of tyranny; freedom from oppression; freedom from want that includes employment, housing, decent shelter; absence of poverty; non-discrimination, respect for human rights and culture; integrity and national sovereignty; fair and just distribution and sharing of resources; absence of non-direct or structural violence; care of environment; empowerment — democratic participation, right to self-determination; access to education (Rada, 2020).

As you can see, Filipinos’ concept of peace is broad – from the individual to family; from a small group to a larger community; and from nation to global relations. This is similar to other peace literature. If we look closely at the indicators of peace, we see that they are the same indicators or operational definition of justice.  “Justice” provides the standard for the quality of life in the community of God’s people (Grimsrud, 2010); and most certainly to all peoples of the world.

Historically, the US has always intervened in the affairs of the Philippines, making us a colony in the old historical sense and in modern parlance.  It has deeply entrenched itself in our political, economic, social, and cultural life since the Mock Battle of Manila Bay.  Since then, they have intervened in every way – economic, political, and social.  Sometimes, the intervention is subtle and strategically long-term, such as in the area of education through policy by the US’ Philippine Commission under the auspices of the Secretary of War.  There were the Thomasites in 1902, and the establishment of the Philippine Normal College (now PNU) to train the next generations of Filipino teachers who will continue to ingrain so called  “American ideals”. Not that American ideals are inherently bad, but the entire education system also brought about colonial mentality; a mentality that everything American is superior to that of ours. This is the worst form of discrimination – a discrimination of the self, of one’s products, culture, and values as inferior to that of the colonizer.

In the economic sphere, the historic Bell Trade Act is a clear economic intervention and a mockery of Philippine sovereignty.  It allows the US full and equal access to Philippine natural resources for them to exploit, to access the Philippine market, and dump surplus goods.  Nothing much has changed, 80 years later. In 2025, President Marcos, Jr. signed a bilateral agreement with President Donald Trump, agreeing to a 19% tariff on Filipino goods exported to the US, while imposing zero tariffs for US goods entering the Philippines, making the country an open market for the US. How lopsided is that? According to Sonny Africa of IBON Foundation, “It is a surrender of economic sovereignty”. He goes on further to say that “Subservience [economic] is not strategy, sovereignty is.”  (Africa, 2025).

International financial institutions (IFIs) such as the IMF-WB and the ADB are instruments of US intervention in the economic sphere. While one may argue that ADB is largely Japan-led, the US has an equal share of 15.6%.

Loans extended by these IFIs are indirect interventions in the Philippine economy as well as to its politics and governance because the conditionalities of these loans are anchored on creating legislation and policies (which they term as prior actions) before the loan can be approved. These laws and policies are regressive as they conform to the neoliberal framework that liberalizes and deregulates the economy. They do not benefit the people and, in fact, make them more vulnerable to situations of un-peace.

The World Bank development policy loan in 2020, under “Promoting Competitiveness and Enhancing Resilience to Natural Disasters Sub-program 1 (P170052),” required the Philippines’ prior action of liberalizing the rice sector under the Country Partnership Framework. Indeed, the Rice Tariffication Law (RA 11203) was enacted in February 2019 despite strong opposition from farmers and farmers’ groups because they knew the implications. Farmers are now feeling the brunt of its impacts – their already low income has further decreased, which may not be considered as enough for subsistence; and, consequently, they will be unable to send their children to school.  For those few farmers who own a plot of land, they may be forced to mortgage or sell off the land as they will be unable to sustain farming as a livelihood (Abelo & Umil, 2022).

Similarly, before granting a loan by the ADB under its Climate Change Action Program, the Philippine government had to enact the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (R.A. 11285) to achieve nationally determined contributions (NDCs) towards the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  The Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) rests on this Act and delegates procurement of vehicles that have low GHG emissions to small drivers and operators. The high cost of the vehicle is simply unaffordable to them, even if the government extends loans through banks. The maximum loan will not even cover one vehicle and is subject to 6% interest per annum payable within seven years. The program will practically disemploy 140,000 drivers and 60,000 operators (APRN, 2024).

More direct and heightened US intervention is in militarism and militarization, not only in the Philippines but in the entire Asia Pacific. The US has always backed Israel’s Zionist Project against the Palestinians, the numerous wars (proxy or otherwise) it waged with countries in West Asia, and now its aggression on Iran.  The US’ pivot to the Indo-Pacific is rooted in economics and to “contain” the rise of China as a world power. In today’s multi-polar world, the US insists on its sole hegemony after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

Why set sights and direct efforts towards Asia-Pacific? For one, it is a large area — geographically, demographically and economically. It is home to 60% of the world’s population of around 4.3 billion people (UNFPA, n.d.). In 2025, its share of global economic growth is 60%. It is a large region with a large economic potential – a large market for trade, export, a dumping ground of surplus products and a source of cheap labor. It is no wonder that other developed nations such as Canada and the European Union have also their versions of an Indo-Pacific strategy.

More importantly for the US, it wants to secure the region by maintaining a military posture. The narrative they maintain is to provide “security and stability” in the Asia-Pacific. US and its NATO allies have stated that China’s “ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values” (NATO, 2022).  Such pronouncements contribute much to the volatility of peace in the region. Does deterrence provide stability? No. On the contrary, it fans embers of “skirmishes” within the region (e.g. border and maritime disputes) which has the potential to escalate to full-blown conflicts.  The Philippines-China dispute over the West Philippine sea is one such example. The US is capitalizing on this issue to further entrench its hold in Philippine military affairs and even legislation.

The military agreements – Mutual Defense Treaty (1951), Visiting Forces Agreement (1998), Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA; 2014), Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (renewed in 2017) — the Philippines have entered into with the United States put the Philippines at-risk of being dragged in the US’ militarist adventurism and possibly to its wars of aggression towards other countries. Especially with EDCA, it allowed the US to establish 9 bases in the Philippines. (Philippine officials would rather use the term, facilities that are operated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines). EDCA has practically turned the entire archipelago into a military base of the US. These agreements undermine the sovereignty of the Philippines.

Related to these agreements are other documents. One of these is the US-Philippines Bilateral Defense Guidelines. Accordingly, it allows for US intervention on Philippines’ budget planning in relation to defense. In the 2026 Budget, we see a 14% increase in defense spending to PhP 430.9 billion. This figure reflects a 150% increase from the 2024 budget (Africa, 2025). This is a stark demonstration of where the priorities of the Philippine government lie.  Instead of spending on basic social welfare and social services such as health and education, a large chunk of the budget goes to militaristic pursuits. For the Filipino people, this translates to continuing social distress and poverty; teachers’ salaries remain low; school infrastructure to accommodate the vast number of students is wanting; unemployment continues because there is no real public spending on industrialization that would create jobs; and, erodes public health by diverting more funds to defense and militarism.  Forty-three percent (43%) of Filipinos’ spending for health is from out of their own pockets because of the inadequate health system (Piedad, 2025).  This is the situation of un-peace as lived by millions of Filipinos.

The military posturing of the US in Asia-Pacific is also consistent with war economy and the military-industrial complex. And the Philippines is all too willing to cooperate, making it complicit in perpetuating this evil system. The U.S. has $1.033 billion in active government-to-government sales cases with the Philippines under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system (USDS, 2025).  In this system, it is the US that dictates all conditions. Last year, the US State Department has approved a USD 5.5B-weapons package (Chavez, 2025). Closer to home, the US’ deployment of its Typhon missile in an undisclosed location in the Northern Philippines (Business World, 2025) is a cause of uncertainty and anxiety for the people.

On the ground, the Balikatan US-Philippines military exercises, have caused a lot of un-peace among the people – fear, uncertainty, and disruption to livelihood of farmers and small and artisanal fisherfolk because their movements are restricted and they are banned to go at sea during the exercises, respectively. They are not compensated for this and if ever, minutely and not everyone. This makes them even more vulnerable to hunger. There is also damage to the environment. Troops and heavy equipment movement, and the toxic waste generated disrupts ecosystems, pollutes soil and water, and impacts the health of the people (Umil, 2024). Let us not forget the gendered impacts and the landmark case of US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton for the murder of Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman.

Under the Marcos Jr. regime, the Philippines faces an alarming escalation of state violence, widespread violations of international humanitarian law, and deepening militarization. Counter-insurgency operations are increasingly reinforced by U.S. military aid, further entrenching the country within intensifying geopolitical tensions.

Clearly this is far from the vision of peace in Isaiah 11:6 where “Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them.” (GNT).  Christian discipleship entails working for peace and justice. Micah 6:8 succinctly puts it, “The Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.” (GNT)

In the 1980s, faith communities played a vital role in building international solidarity with the Filipino people, gathering at Stony Point to denounce the Marcos dictatorship and strengthen global coordination for justice and human rights.

The year 1991 marked a historic victory for the Filipino people when they successfully prevented the renewal of the treaty that allowed the continued operation of the Subic Naval Base. While it is unfortunate that the presence of foreign military forces has since returned with renewed force, it is important to remember that this achievement was the result of a strong and united people’s movement against U.S. military bases and intervention.

The continuing realities of un-peace underscore that people’s movements are crucial as they are powerful forces in the struggle for justice and lasting peace.  For peace to genuinely take root in the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world, the unity of people’s movements and their solidarity against imperialism are essential. This entails mobilizing organizations and individuals—from local, national, and international levels to coordinate, cooperate, support one another, and collectively struggle against imperialism and its agents in all its forms. Let us build an anti-imperialist united front. 

References