Filipino protesters demand US forces withdrawal

Dozens of people in the Philippines have staged a protest outside the US embassy in the capital Manila, calling for the withdrawal of US troops from the Southeast Asian country.

Chanting slogans such as "US troops out now," a number of the protesters clashed with the police during the Saturday protest.

The demonstrators also voiced anger over US involvement in a police operation in January which resulted in the death of 44 security forces.

“US military, US soldiers are with terrorists in the Philippines. We want you out now. We want you to end your military intervention in our country and we don’t want to participate in your phony war on terror,” a protester said in a Russia Today video on Saturday.

On January 25, a 12-hour gun battle between the Philippine police and the members of two militant groups, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) claimed the lives of 44 police forces, 18 MILF members and five from the BIFF.

The aim of the police operation in the town of Mamasapano, in the southern province of Maguindanao, was to capture or kill two men on the US government’s so-called list of “most wanted terrorists”.

The men, Abdul Basit Usman and Malaysian national Zulkifli bin Hir, were living in the southern farming communities of the Philippines. Hir was killed in the raid, but Usman escaped.

The US reportedly provided intelligence, training and equipment for the operation.

The US terminated its permanent military presence in the Philippines in 1992, but the two sides hold annual war games to this day.

The US military started the biggest joint exercises with the Philippines in 15 years on April 20 this year. The 10-day annual drills -- dubbed Balikatan or Shoulder to Shoulder -- involve over 6,600 American forces, 5,000 Philippine personnel along with 61 Australian troops, according to Philippine military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Marlowe Patria.

This year’s exercise is twice the size of that of the last year’s, signifying US military’s will to promote its Pacific Pathways strategy for a stronger US presence in the region.

“The situation in the South China Sea is being exacerbated particularly by the United States, trying to basically reassert its influence in that region of the world,” Dennis A. Etler, a professor of Anthropology based in California, told Press TV in a phone interview last week.

This year's exercises come as tensions between China and the Philippines is on the rise over maritime and territorial disputes in recent months. The two countries have competing claims over a number of islands and shoals in the South China Sea.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The waters are believed to sit atop vast reserves of minerals, oil, and gas.

Observers believe America’s efforts to increase its presence in the region are aimed at containing China.

China has frequently warned the United States to be cautious in its words and actions with regard to territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors. 

MSM/NT/AS

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