Bayan Australia, a broad alliance of Filipino organizations and individuals in Australia, has strongly condemned the ongoing joint military exercises—Kasangga 2025-01 between the Philippine Army and the Australian Defence Force (ADF), and Kamandag 8-24 involving US, Philippine, and allied troops. The alliance denounced these war games as provocations that escalate regional tensions and entrench foreign military intervention in the Philippines.

In a statement, Bayan Australia criticized the Kasangga exercises as a clear vehicle for Australian military involvement in the Philippines under the guise of regional cooperation. They warned that the growing military alignment between the Philippines and Australia is part of a larger US-led strategy to encircle China and intensify militarization in the Indo-Pacific region.

Bayan Australia also raised alarm over the Kamandag war games that began in mid-October 2024, which brought together over 1,000 US Marines and troops from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. The joint drills include live-fire training and amphibious operations in northern Luzon and across key islands between Luzon and Taiwan—areas considered highly sensitive in ongoing geopolitical disputes.

The alliance particularly decried the use of advanced weaponry such as the US-supplied NMESIS missile system and HIMARS rocket launchers in these exercises, saying their deployment increases the likelihood of the Philippines being drawn into US military conflicts in the region.

“This exercise… is not an isolated event but forms part of a series of continuous military engagements that serve the strategic interests of the US in the Indo-Pacific region,” Bayan Australia said.

The group called on fellow Australians, Filipino migrants, and solidarity groups to oppose the ADF’s involvement in military activities that contribute to the militarization of the region and enable US imperialist aggression.

Bayan-Australia condemned the Marcos regime for kowtowing to the imperialist US. “By allowing increasing foreign troop presence and joint military exercises like Kasangga, the Marcos Jr. administration is not defending Philippine sovereignty–it is betraying it,” the group said.

Meanwhile, the CPP also criticized the Kasangga war games adding that the military drills are already harming the Filipino people. “This exposes the Filipino people to danger in exchange for the favors that the Marcos regime receives from its foreign masters. The continued subservience of the Philippines to US imperialism in military, economic, political, cultural, and foreign relations is a blatant trampling of Philippine freedom,” Valbuena said.