Tell it to SunStar: Protest against Edca, Balikatan exercises

By Zenaida Soriano*

The Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women led the “Stitching is Resisting,” a collective quilting of a banner on Sunday, April 23, 2023, along with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Cordillera People’s Alliance, Agroecology X and Rural Women Advocates demanding the removal of US troops from the country. Farmers, peasant women, Cordillera activists and land rights advocates gathered at the Agroecology Fair held at Quezon Memorial Circle and stitched calls to oppose the ongoing Balikatan military exercises and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca).

The United States’ political influence and military presence in our country are among the biggest threats to our sovereignty and peace. This year’s Balikatan exercises are the biggest in history, and it is very easy to understand why. We refuse to allow innocent Filipinos to be caught in the crossfire of imperialist feuding.

The banner we made together is a mark of our collective demand for US troops to be pulled out immediately, and for the government to junk Edca and end the Balikatan exercises that threaten the communities and disrupt the livelihood of peasants and indigenous people.

The Agroecology Fair was the venue for the celebration of the 39th People’s Cordillera Day in Metro Manila. The event highlighted the culture and history of the Cordillera people, as well as their ongoing fight for the protection of their ancestral lands, self-determination, and human rights. The collective quilting activity was held in solidarity with the#DefendTheNorth campaign, with particular focus on provinces such as Cagayan and Isabela that have become host to Edca sites.

The idea that US military presence would protect the country against China’s increasingly aggressive encroachment of territory was a misconception.

The United States has no intention of protecting anything but its own interests. We must defend our sovereignty against both China and the US. The Marcos-Duterte administration is doing the complete opposite, by selling the country to both imperialists and allowing us to be dragged into their warmongering.

*Author is Amihan National Chairperson 

Source: Sunstar.com with same title on April 24, 2023