Every year, the US holds joint military exercizes with the Philippine military.
Usually I discover this when we hear helicopters flying over the town and yup while walking the dogs I heard one fairly high flying over us: an Apache, and only one this time.
Nothing new here: usually the Philippine special forces types teach the Yanks Jungle warfare, (Yum. Cobra blood) and the Yanks update the Philippine military with their latest gadgets and they both learn to coordinate with each other.
But what has changed is that the US will again post military troops on Philippine miltiary bases.
Up until about 1990 the US had several large bases, which have now been turned into civilian enterprises. The liberals asked the Yanks to leave because there was no threat to the Philippines, and local pride insisted the Philippines didn't need help from big brother any more.
But now things have changed, as for the last ten years China has been slowly taking over the West Philippine sea.
StrategyPage has the background here, and they have a long essay on the latest geopolitical stuff going on in the world with China.
While the South China Sea combat is non-lethal, the economic damage to other nations with legal claims to portions of the South China Sea is very real...
China created the current crisis over who controls Pagasa Island and nearby sandbars. Since 2019 China has sent a record number of ships to block access to disputed islands, especially, Pagasa. Most of these are Chinese fishing boats pretending to be fishing but in reality, are members of the Chinese naval militia which is now composed of about a thousand ships that are paid regularly to be available when called upon to carry out paramilitary duties, usually in the South China Sea.
China insists it has not ordered its naval militia fishing boats to physically block Filipino commercial or military ships from getting to Pagasa. Despite that pledge it has become more difficult for Filipino fishing boats to operate in areas they had long worked.
The Chinese are getting their knickers in a knot about the Philippines allowing US troops to stay on Philippine bases, and has been pouring out propaganda about US aggression, and a lot of the MSM just prints their talking points.
These article leave out little things like that the Chinese are making artificial islands in our fishing areas, terrorizing local fishermen by surrounding them with their (pseudo) fishing boats (they tried the same thing last week to a US Air craft carrier).
Duterte tried to make nice with them (partly because the CIA sicced Human rights types on him and funded a famous English language news site to oppose him, one that is often quoted in the west)
But after China screwed him, (didn't give requested aid they promised, and continued to threaten local fishermen), Duterte quickly moved to restore the US/Philippine alliance.
Alas, not much was done by the USA, so Chinese aggression continued. (not just against the Philippines, but against Viet Nam, and against other more distant neighbors where they want terristory such as Taiwan, Japan, and India).
The Ukraine was a wake up call: Because Putin perceived US weakness with a semi senile Preident Biden in charge, this led to Putin overplaying his hand.
So now the major reason to support the Ukraine is to send a message not to start a war.
Hence President Marcos will allow US presence back into the Philippines.
AlJazeerah also has an article here about the problem and why BongBong Marcos is making nice with a USA who stood back and let his father be thrown out by locals.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said his country’s military must urgently focus on the protection of territorial integrity as disputes between Manila and China multiply amid growing rivalry in the region between Beijing and Washington.
italics mine.
Marcos Jr made his comment in a speech to his armed forces just weeks after he summoned China’s ambassador in Manila to protest against the use of a military-grade laser by the Chinese coastguard that briefly blinded crew members of a Philippine patrol vessel in the South China Sea.
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