From 2018 to 2024, research group Ibon Foundation has seen the most number of participating countries through the Balikatan Exercises. In this year’s Balikatan, 17 countries participated — a large number compared to the 2018 Balikatan which only involved four countries.
For the progressive groups, the trilateral summit is among the series of efforts to leverage the Philippines’ strategic geo-political location for economic and military benefit as tensions rise between the U.S. and China, “at the expense of the sovereignty of the Philippines, the economic conditions of Filipino workers, and the health of the environment.”
“The Filipino people’s dignity and sovereignty could not be bought with cigarettes and noodles.”
President Rodrigo Duterte is absolutely right. The Balangiga bells, seized by United States Army soldiers from the Catholic church of Balangiga town, Samar in 1902, “are part of our national heritage,” and should be returned to the Philippines. Mr. Duterte made the demand in the presence of the US Ambassador to the Philippines during his…
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star No matter the military muscle-flexing both by China and the United States (along with Japan and other US regional allies) in relation to the ongoing maritime dispute in our part of the world, all parties concerned must emphasize the primacy of resolving the disagreement…
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com I believe in America. This is the famous opening line of the Hollywood film The Godfather. Incidentally, I share the same sentiment and I’d like to believe that most of my activist friends have a similar high regard for what America stands for. So why are we called anti-Americans? First,…
By JEREMY BIGWOOD NACLA International Posted by Bulatlat.com The U.S. State Department is secretly funneling millions of dollars to Latin American journalists, according to documents obtained in June under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The 20 documents released to this author—including grant proposals, awards, and quarterly reports—show that between 2007 and 2009, the State…
By HENRY A. GIROUX Truthout | Perspective Posted by Bulatlat.com Under the Bush administration, a seeping, sometimes galloping, authoritarianism began to reach into every vestige of the culture, giving free rein to those anti-democratic forces in which religious, market, military and political fundamentalism thrived, casting an ominous shadow over the fate of United States democracy.…
By TOM LOUDON Truthout International Posted by Bulatlat During the last week, deep in the Peruvian Amazon, confrontations between nonviolent indigenous protesters and police have left up to 100 people dead. The vast majority of the casualties are civilians, who have been conducting peaceful demonstrations in defense of the Amazon rain forest. For almost two…
The United States is facing the prospect of a major defeat in Iraq that is likely to constitute a serious setback in the ongoing campaign to expand the American empire. By the Editors of Monthly Review January 2004 Posted by Bulatlat.com The United States is facing the prospect of a major defeat in Iraq that…