Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to protect the Philippines from becoming another Ukraine, a casualty in another proxy war by the United States of America (USA) against its rivals.
In a statement on President Marcos’ meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, the group said it is against the national interests of the Philippines to be drawn into a shooting war between the USA and China in the manner that Ukraine is a “mere pawn” between the rivalry between the North American superpower and Russia.
Marcos met with Zelensky at Malacanan Palace on June 3 when the latter thanked the Philippine government for its pro-Ukraine statements since the start of the conflict in February 2022.
Zelensky followed Marcos to Manila after their mutual attendance at the Shangrila Dialogue in Singapore to seek stronger support for Ukraine in its ongoing and long-drawn war against Russia.
The European head of state also invited Marcos to attend a pro-Ukraine event to be held in Switzerland in the future.
Marcos for his part told Zelensky his government would extend whatever it could to Ukraine.
Bayan however said the US-controlled North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is to blame for the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“NATO expansion in Ukraine was among the factors that escalated the conflict,” Bayan said.
The Minsk Agreement of 1991, co-signed by Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, dissolved the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and stipulated assurances from the US, NATO, and Western powers that former Warsaw Pact member countries would not be made NATO members that would threaten Russia along its borders.
NATO however has added 16 new member states since then, many of which border with Russia and have undergone political turmoil seen as encouraged by Western powers such as the US.
Zelensky’s government has applied for NATO membership which analysts said was among the reasons for Russia’s offensive against Ukraine.
Bayan said the US and China are engaged in a similar inter-imperialist rivalry with the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as a battleground.
“We should by now learn from the experience of Ukraine. We should be wary of being a US pawn, and should reject all attempts at making the Philippines a US military outpost,” Bayan president Renato Reyes said.
“If the Ukraine experience teaches us anything, US war provocations and escalation of tensions will not be in our national interest. The Filipino people demand an end to US bases and troops and China’s aggressive actions,” Reyes added.
Bayan said the WPS should be immediately demilitarized and all forms of imperialist domination should end.
The group said the Philippines must stand up to China in the latter’s aggression in the region but must also reject US war provocations and escalation of conflict.
This article was first published by KODAO Productions
