Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) strongly condemned the recent visit of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 28, 2025. The farmers group said the continued expansion of US military presence in our country through war games, conducted under the guise of strengthening defense ties, only serves to entrench US military interests in the Indo-Pacific region while exacerbating the long-standing struggles of Filipino farmers.

Hegseth’s visit coincides with the ongoing war games known as SABAK (the joint Salaknib and Balikatan exercises), which began in March and will run until April 11, with another phase scheduled from May 19 to July 20. These extensive and prolonged military drills are set to take place in territories near Taiwan and the West Philippine Sea, deliberately fueling tensions between China and the US by leveraging the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China. Portions of these exercises will be conducted in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Zambales in Central Luzon.

As part of the Balikatan, the AFP will deploy its newly acquired Spyder mobile air defense system from Israel, equipped with advanced weaponry such as the Rafael Spike NLOS missile, South Korea’s C-Star surface-to-surface missile, and France’s Mistral 3 surface-to-air system. Like previous exercises, a ship-sinking drill will also be carried out, which is expected to disrupt marine ecosystems and threaten the livelihoods of local fisherfolk.

With the start of Donald Trump’s second administration, the AFP’s modernization was among the programs spared from the US funding freeze; Hegseth’s visit also touched on the AFP modernization program.

Pete Hegseth, a former US Army officer and television commentator, has been a figure of considerable controversy. Hegseth’s confirmation as Secretary of Defense was contentious, narrowly secured with a 51–50 Senate vote. His nomination faced opposition due to allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and concerns about his views on women in combat roles. Earlier this month, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added in a Signal group chat with Hegseth, discussing war plans and sensitive military operations in Yemen. Hegseth and the rest of White House top brass was exposed for their war hungry demeanor towards the conflict in the Middle East, celebrating strikes performed against civilian establishments and purposefully ignoring preventable collateral damage.

For decades, US intervention in the Philippines has contributed to the displacement of farming communities, the destruction of agricultural lands, and the worsening militarization of rural areas. The presence of foreign troops and the intensification of military operations push farmers out of their ancestral lands, turning fertile fields into battlegrounds. Military exercises such as SABAK do not ensure our security; instead, they heighten tensions, militarize our communities, and disrupt the livelihood of thousands of farmers who rely on the land for survival.

In 2011, 4 out of 7 Balikatan training sites were in Central Luzon, including Fort Magsaysay whose 3,100 hectare land was already under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agrarian Reform, but the presence of US soldiers were used to terrorize and displace farmers. In Ilocos Norte, The 2023 Balikatan prevented fisherfolk from fishing for an entire week during the US-Philippines simulation and live-fire drills. In 2024 also in Ilocos Norte, reports indicate that communities have been denied access to their sources of livelihood during the exercises.

Furthermore, heightened militarism in the Indo-Pacific serves only to protect the economic and geopolitical interests of the United States at the expense of the Filipino people and other semi-colonies in the region. The so-called “defense cooperation” underpins a broader agenda of military dominance, one that prioritizes foreign intervention over national sovereignty. This militarization also diverts government attention and resources away from addressing the pressing issues of the food crisis and landlessness.

The United States’ war efforts are reinvigorated under the new Trump administration. Recently, talks of the US annexing Greenland for supposed “national security” concerns, only to claim a positional advantage against Russia and China was rebuked by Greenland locals and the international community.

KMP rejects the subservience of the Marcos Jr. regime as it openly offers the constant use of our lands and waters as staging grounds for imperialist war aggression. We demand a stop to all joint military exercises, the withdrawal of US troops from Philippine soil, and an end to the US imperialist agenda not only in the Philippines, but in the entire world. ###