𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝘀 𝗝𝗿.’𝘀 𝗨𝗦 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲

The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) has expressed alarm over President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent visit to the United States, calling it a “sovereignty-sacrificing spectacle” that deepens the Philippines’ dependence on foreign powers.

CenPEG flagged the President’s meeting with former US President Donald Trump as “a disturbing political signal,” raising concerns about Marcos Jr.’s apparent comfort with strongman politics and illiberal governance.

“𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘴 𝘑𝘳.’𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 — 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 — 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘺; 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮,” said Prof. Roland G. Simbulan, Chairperson of CenPEG and a longtime expert on Philippine foreign policy. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺: 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘦𝘥-𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.”

CenPEG also criticized the Marcos administration’s renewed military and economic commitments with the US, particularly under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and other defense pacts that they say lack transparency and public accountability.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘱𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘜𝘚 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢,” Simbulan said. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘜𝘚-𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵, 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘵𝘺.”

CenPEG pointed out the irony of President Marcos Jr. requesting US assistance in using EDCA bases for disaster response operations in Philippine territory. “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘜𝘚 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘜𝘚 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭,” Simbulan noted.

The group also raised the alarm over plans to establish a US ammunition factory in Subic, warning of environmental and security risks. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘚 𝘕𝘢𝘷𝘺’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘪 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘤,” Simbulan emphasized. “𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘪’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 — 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘵.”

He added, “𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 1971 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.”

While the Marcos administration highlighted billions in pledged investments from US companies, CenPEG argues that many of these are recycled or conditional, offering little benefit to Filipino industries or labor.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵,” Simbulan added.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘜𝘚 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.”

CenPEG called on Congress to investigate the terms of the agreements made during the visit and urged civil society to remain vigilant.

“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳-𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦,” Simbulan warned. "𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨." ###