We’re on the coast of the Philippines-
[gunfire]
We’re on the coast of the Philippines,
that right there is the South China Sea
It’s part of the largest ever combined combat exercises
between the U.S. military and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
- Fire in the hole!
For 125 years, the Philippines has been crucial to U.S. interests in the Pacific.
And now, amid rising tensions with China,
the Philippines has agreed to let more American troops into the country.
- If that war comes, we're gonna be prepared to execute it if we have to.
I traveled here –
All right, I’m gonna get on this boat.
– to learn what a surge of U.S. troops means for the lives of Filipinos...
...and how the effects of U.S. colonization are still reverberating today.
[missile firing]
A Patriot missile launch is a very loud thing.
Loud and forceful.
Hopefully you'll never forget hearing the sound of a Patriot missile going off.
Patriot missiles are big.
They can be expensive.
But they’re absolutely lethal.
- I’m at a naval base on the South China Sea at this year’s Balikatan,
the annual combined military exercises between the U.S. and the Philippines.
Balikatan means “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog,
and the two-week-long training is meant to strengthen ties between the longtime allies.
More than 12,000 American troops are in the country for this year’s exercises,
which include drills like shooting down target drones over the South China Sea.
[cheers]
Let’s go!
- You can tell folks are pretty proud of the results of their hard work
and what they got to do today.
- But the star of today’s exercise is this: the Patriot –
the army's most advanced air defense system,
designed to shoot down enemy missiles.
Today was the first time it was ever fired in the Philippines.
It's absolutely amazing that we've done it.
Just the physical act of doing it itself is a tremendous readiness benefit.
- I hear the word “preparedness” and “readiness” a lot,
What are you guys getting ready for?
Well, you know, our job as soldiers is to be prepared to fight and win our nation’s wars
if required to do so.
- This year’s Balikatan is happening amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China
as the two superpowers vie for dominance in the Pacific.
There are basically two things the U.S. says it’s worried about
when it comes to China in the Pacific.
First, there’s China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea –
parts of which Filipinos call the West Philippine Sea.
It’s a vast, important waterway that’s rich in oil, gas and fisheries.
For years, China has been entering waters claimed by the Philippines.
The U.S. says it’s prepared to come to its ally’s defense.
The United States remains ironclad in our commitment to the defense of the Philippines,
including the South China Sea.
And then there’s Taiwan,
the nearby island that has been independently governed for decades,
despite China’s claim to it.
China has warned it will treat any moves by the Taiwanese to claim independence
as grounds for an invasion.
The U.S. officially recognizes Taiwan as part of China, but despite that,
President Biden has said the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s defense.
- U.S. Forces, U.S. men and women, would defend Taiwan
in the event of a Chinese invasion?
Yes.
- Against the backdrop of all this,
and just a few weeks before the combined exercises,
the Philippines announced it will allow the U.S. military to expand its footprint.
That means there could soon be the largest number of American troops here in 30 years.
- It’s an expansion of an existing mutual defense treaty from 2014 known as EDCA.
EDCA initially granted American troops access to these five Philippine bases.
Now, the U.S. will have access to four more bases,
conveniently, mostly located facing either Taiwan or the South China Sea.
Chinese leaders see this, and other recent actions by the U.S., as provocation.
What message do you think these exercises and firing a Patriot missile,
what message do you think this is sending to China?
Regardless of it's China or others,
I hope that this demonstrates that we are training,
we are prepared to operate with a range of partners and allies.
If called to do so, we're gonna send Patriot missiles downrange
and we're gonna do it at the direction of others.
- Since we returned from the Philippines,
the U.S. and China have engaged in high-level talks
in an attempt to stabilize ties.
But the military told us that doesn’t change their readiness plans.
Another first for Balikatan was this:
the bombing and sinking of a mock enemy ship in the South China Sea,
a spectacle recorded on military surveillance drone.
On the same day,
I traveled 50 miles up the coast of where this bombing was happening
to meet with locals who oppose such war games.
I’m on a boat with a group of local Filipino fisherfolk
who are protesting the increased U.S. military presence here in the Philippines,
saying it’s directly impacting their livelihood.
- They’ve been banned from fishing in the sea for several days during Balikatan,
a significant setback considering fisherfolk are the poorest segment of Philippine society.
- But while these military drills are a temporary setback for the fisherfolk,
it’s estimated that over the last few years some have lost 70% of their income
due to not being able to fish because of consistent Chinese intrusion into their waters.
In that sense, do you feel like the U.S. military being here is protecting you from China?
- But recent surveys show that actually, a majority of Filipinos do side with the U.S. over China,
a sentiment we repeatedly heard from people throughout the country.
- The U.S. military has historically poured millions into the local economy
and provided tens of thousands of jobs.
That’s significant in a country where almost one-fifth of the population
lives under the poverty threshold.
For the past centuries, it’s the United States that's been there for us.
- But let’s unpack that.
Because many Filipinos, like those who were protesting
outside the country’s Department of National Defense the day Balikatan started,
say the U.S. has historically exploited the Philippines.
- In 1898, the Philippines became
one of the first U.S. colonies
after being purchased from Spain
for 20 million dollars
following the Spanish-American War.
The U.S. wanted the archipelago nation for its natural resources
and strategic location in the Pacific.
The U.S. had promised the Philippines its freedom
in exchange for helping them defeat Spain.
But the U.S. broke that promise,
and instead occupied the islands
and waged a brutal war
that killed an estimated 200,000 Filipino civilians.
What came next was what President William McKinley called
“benevolent assimilation.”
American schoolteachers were sent en masse to the Philippines
and set up a public school system
that taught English and American history.
In 1946, after almost 50 years,
the Philippines gained its independence.
But with freedom came a caveat –
that the U.S. could continue to station its military there – rent free.
Throughout the 20th century, the U.S. military
used the Philippines as a launching pad
to conflicts like the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air Base became
two of the largest American overseas military bases.
They also became the sites of untold environmental tragedies
and seedy red light districts that contributed
that contributed to the abuse of Filipina women.
- By 1991, anti-U.S. protests had ramped up
and the Philippine senate voted not to renew the U.S. military’s lease,
shutting down the bases.
But various treaties signed by the two countries in later years
kept the U.S. presence alive, but at a fraction of its former size.
American troops today train at a handful of bases
managed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
And now, with the new agreement, they’ll be allowed at more.
I'm about to call up the governor of
of one of the northernmost provinces here in the Philippines
where the U.S. military will be accessing two new bases.
And he’s been quite vocal against the plans.
- Manuel Mamba is the governor of Cagayan province,
which is just 250 miles from Taiwan.
Even though he was against the EDCA expansion,
his province will still see more U.S. troops.
What’s the worst-case scenario?
What is your province’s relationship to China?
Couldn’t the presence of the U.S. military be an economic boon to your province?
I spoke to a Filipino governor in the north,
in Cagayan province that's closest to Taiwan.
And he's opposed to increased U.S. military presence there
because he says, we have no problems with China,
and if anything, this sort of makes us a target.
How do you respond to that?
Well, I won't respond to, to that directly.
I just respond to it that, we don't come here absent invitation from our partners.
We’re here at the invitation and with intent for a long-standing treaty ally partner.
Why is it important for the U.S. to be in this region in the first place?
A free Indo-Pacific is important to us in the United States,
just like it's important to a lot of folks, to include the Philippines here.
So our presence, our opportunity to exercise, our ability to do things together,
matters in pursuit of keeping it free and open.
- How do you respond to the voices that say,
President Marcos invited the U.S. military here
and there's a lot to be gained from the United States, like safety?
Hey guys, thanks for watching.
What do you think of a greater U.S. military
footprint here in the Philippines?
Let me know in the comments,
and be sure to watch our next video
where I hit the streets here to ask Filipinos,
which global superpower do you feel
is a bigger threat, the U.S. or China?
Be sure to watch that next.