By JONAS ALPASAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – On the 125th commemoration of Independence Day, Gabriela Women’s Party assailed the Marcos Jr administration’s disservice to the heroes who fought for the country’s freedom as he “remains to be an avid supporter of foreign-backed militarism in the West Philippine Sea and staunch promoter of pro-foreign neoliberal policies.”
“Marcos Jr.’s ‘friend to all’ foreign policy dangerously places the country in the midst of Washington and Beijing’s increased jostling for global superiority. It is a foreign policy that is friendly to aggression but is blind to the further erosion of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Gabriela Women’s Party in a statement.
Under the Marcos Jr administration, the Philippines agreed to increase the number of US military bases to be constructed as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed between the Philippines and the US in 2014.
EDCA allows the US government to build structures inside Philippine military bases.
The increased number of EDCA sites have been met with criticisms, especially as calls for the scrapping of lopsided agreements with the US have intensified in recent years.
Read: Groups slam US defense chief’s visit, call for the junking of VFA, EDCA
“Truly commemorating Philippine independence should mean junking one-sided pacts with foreign powers, including the Mutual Defense Treaty, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement,” Gabriela Women’s Party added.
‘Rapid, extensive’ pivot to US
In a statement, Ibon Foundation also noted the “rapid and extensive pivot back to the United States” of the Marcos Jr administration.
While this is visible in the government’s internal security policies, the “less visible but with an importance grossly disproportionate to its visibility is how the Philippine economy has been shaped to become a mere cog in the global supply chains of the world’s largest and most powerful capitalist powers,” Ibon Foundation said.
The group added that the US seeks to further open up the economy “as profitable opportunities at the expense of national economic development.”
“Our foreign policy is for the security and development of the people, most of all. It should uphold peace over militarism, sovereignty over aggression, and development over empire,” Ibon Foundation said.
Pay tribute to heroes
Meanwhile, Gabriela Women’s Party paid tribute to Filipino heroes who fought against colonizers and foreign powers.
“The unbreakable nationalist spirit of Gabriela Silang, Andres Bonifacio and all other revolutionaries in the face of formidable foes puts puppet regimes to shame, including the current Marcos Jr. administration which has served our lands on a silver platter for additional US military bases, and which continues to cozy up with Chinese investments,” the group said. (RTS, DAA) 
