Makabayan bloc opposes nuclear deal with US
The Makabayan bloc yesterday expressed its strong opposition to the civil nuclear cooperation deal between the United States and the Philippines as announced by US Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a statement, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said once in force, the so-called 123 agreement will “provide the legal basis for US exports of nuclear equipment and material to the Philippines.”
“What is unfortunate here is we, Filipinos, might be fooled and become guinea pigs in this technology that is being tested by the US,” she noted.
Castro added that “modular or micro-reactor nuclear power plants are still at an experimental stage and are only legally being made in US bases.”
For her part, Gabriela Women’s party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said Filipinos must reject the deal and the proposal to build five more shared locations under the
Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) as this will signal “increased deployment of US military troops and hardware to the country.”
Brosas pointed out that Harris’ planned visit to Palawan, which is just a few kilometers away from the contested West Philippine Sea, “is a provocative gesture directed at Beijing.”
She cautioned this “may add fuel to the already tense situation in the disputed territory.”
“We reiterate our position that territorial tensions must not be a platform for any foreign power to meddle in our affairs and that the US has no business invoking the Hague ruling to supposedly affirm its commitment to international rules and norms,” she said.
Brosas added that Beijing should also stop its military expansion in islands within Philippine territory.
“This dangerously sets the platform for US military build-up in our bases and drags us closer to the risk of confrontation and war, aside from making more women and children vulnerable to abuse by US troops,” she said.
Human rights
Activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) has urged Vice President Harris to raise before President Marcos the issue of “continuing” human rights violations in the Philippines committed by state forces.
In a press statement, Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes pointed out that the issue of human rights abuses supposedly perpetrated by the police and military is relevant as the US government is set to give $100 million in military aid to the Philippines.
“The issue of US military aid to the Philippines amid rampant human rights violations should be discussed in the meetings between US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. There have been continuing violations that have taken place under the Marcos regime,” Reyes said.
“Harris should use the meeting with Marcos to raise human rights issues. She should hear out the complaints of the human rights community,” he added.
Reyes noted that even the US representative to United Nations Human Rights Council had raised the issue of red-tagging and its effects on human rights defenders and journalists during the Philippines’ Universal Periodic Review by the UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland last week.
“Given this dire situation, would the US give $100 million in military aid to the Philippines? There are so many unresolved killings and rights violations. US taxpayers’ money are funding bombs and bullets used against Filipinos,” Reyes said.
Reyes maintained that it would be against the national interest if US military aid is “being dangled in exchange for US military presence in quasi-bases under the EDCA.”
“The Filipino people will be twice victimized, first by the return of foreign bases and second, by the use of US weapons against Filipinos,” he said.
Harris arrived in Manila on Sunday night and is scheduled to go to Palawan today.
Meanwhile, human rights alliance Karapatan believes Harris’ visit will further drive the US government’s complicity in the worsening violations of human rights in the country.
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said that among Harris’ agenda “is further strengthening security arrangements under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement which allows the US to preposition more troops, weapons and logistics in Philippine military facilities that function as quasibases for the US.”
“The US cannot evade accountability for the worsening human rights situation in the Philippines. It already has blood on its hands for having pushed and funded successive regimes in the Philippines, including the Duterte administration, to adopt increasingly vicious counter-insurgency policies resulting in stepped-up attacks against people’s rights and civil liberties,” the Karapatan official said.
According to Karapatan, the US government has provided $330 million in military/security assistance to the Philippines, the 13th largest in the world over the last five years, and arms sales amounting to $4.7 billion or 25th in the world.
“By these actions, the US continues its double-speak on human rights, while pursuing its geo-political and military interests in the Philippines and in the Asia Pacific region,” Palabay said.