Revolutionary forces in Eastern Visayas have called for the ouster of US and other foreign troops in Tacloban City, the capital of Leyte province south of Manila. Nearly a thousand US and other foreign troops were conducting the third leg of the Pacific Partnership 2026 – a two-week military exercise supposedly for “regional security” and “disaster response”.

Celine Manlimbasog, spokesperson of NDF-Eastern Visayas condemned the exercise not only of trampling on Philippine sovereignty but also of dragging the whole Asia-Pacific region into open war with enemies of the US.

Manlimbasog said the Filipino people and the Taclobanons have not forgotten that the US colluded with the traitorous Marcos Jr regime and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to secretly launch in May a Tomahawk missile from a civilian airport in Tacloban to explode in Nueva Ecija province in Luzon. Millions of Filipinos in at least three regions were put in harm’s way throughout the low-skimming missile’s 48-minute, 640-kilometer flight. Fisherfolk in Tacloban were barred from seafaring to earn their living.

Pretentious “humanitarian activities” obscure the vested interest of the US in Philippine natural resources.

Malimbasog explained, “The Eastern Visayas region remains in the shadow of the Pax Silica pact: through Marcos’ Executive Order 122 and the US-PH Critical Minerals Pact, the rich bauxite deposits in central-west and south-east Samar are being offered to wanton exploitation for their rare earth minerals. (It is worth noting that contracts for these mining operations are granted to firm linked to Martin Romualdez, a top politician and cousin of Marcos Jr). Ironically, rare earths that can be extracted from bauxite, such as samarium, are used to build the Tomahawk missiles such as the one launched from Tacloban, as well as the fighter jets the 8th Infantry Division uses for its bombing sprees in the Eastern Visayas countryside. It is well known that American defense contractors have been racing to secure their supply of rare earths especially after China restricted exports of these in-demand raw materials since last year.”

Destructive mining activities in Samar by the US-Marcos big businessmen and local bureaucrats with  with the help of the 8th ID worsen the effects of typhoons, floods, and other disasters that frequent the region. “The people of Eastern Visayas know the ill intention behind every public relations stunt of the Pacific Partnership. They must do all to expose the hypocrisy of these exercises and US military presence in the Philippines. They must imbibe the spirit of their forefathers: Agustin Sumuroy of Palapag, the townspeople of Catubig, Balangiga, and the long line of Samareños and Leyteños that rose against American colonizers and oppressors for freedom and democracy,” Manlimbasog exhorted.