CLARK FREEPORT – Farmers and other militant folk ended their two-day protest caravan by swooping down yesterday afternoon on this former US air force base to protest the joint US-Philippine military Balikatan exercises slated here and other parts of the country.
They said hundreds of farmers and fisherfolk in Central Luzon are again likely to be barred access to their livelihood sources to give way to Balikatan under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Some 1,000 members of the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) and other groups, some from Metro Manila, converged amid tight security at the freeport’s main gate in Barangay Balibago in Angeles City, after also holding a protest rally at the Philippine Air Force’s Basa air base in Floridablanca town, some 20 kilometers away.
The AMGL noted that the Balikatan exercises are to be held in Clark and Basa, as well as in Subic in Zambales, Crow Valley in Camp O’ Donnel in Capas, Tarlac and Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.
“The areas of Balikatan exercises are usually where farmers, fisherfolk and indigenous people get their livelihood.
During these dangerous exercises they are banned from attending their crops nor fishing at the seas, thus, it affects their livelihood,” said Joseph Canlas, AMGL chairperson.
He also noted that the bay area in Zambales near Subic and San Antonio town, which are also slated to be used during Balikatan, are also fishing grounds for local folk.
“The Balikatan exercises treat farmers and fisherfolk as mere pests as they are totally driven off their lands, their rights to livelihood are totally trampled upon. We totally condemn this recurring incident,” Canlas said.
In a statement, AMGL said Central Luzon formers, as well as the Filipino people do not benefit from Balikatan exercises.
“The objectives of Balikatan is to secure American hold in Southeast Asia so as the Americans can exploit untapped resources such as oil and natural gas, as well as to guard against China and North Korea,” the group said.
It also expressed fears that the US government intends “to use the country as its base to launch wars of aggression.”
The AMGL said the Balikatan exercises also “aim to threaten the resurging farmers movement in the region.”
