The upcoming Balikatan 2023 is a security threat to the Philippines as US and China are in the middle of rising tension says House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro.
She said that she strongly oppose the upcoming war games and that the government should think even more about proceeding with the said activity.
“The Philippines should not proceed with the scheduled joint training exercises with US troops next month to avoid getting caught in the middle of tensions between the United States and China,” Rep. Castro said.
As of now, the US and China are having conflicts and it is hard for the Philippines to be in the middle of these two strong countries, especially since the Filipinos will suffer if it happens.
“Dapat gayahin ng Pilipinas ang mga bansa tulad ng Indonesia at Malaysia na nagtataboy sa panghihimasok ng Tsina sa kanilang territory sa pamamagitan ng pagpapaunlad ng kanilang gas fields bukod pa sa pagpapatawag sa embahador ng Tsina at mga diplomatic protests,” the Deputy Minority leader added.
[The Philippines should be like Indonesia and Malaysia wherein they are not letting China come into their territory by making their gas fields progressive aside from calling in Chinese Ambassadors and diplomatic protests.]
It can be remembered that spokesperson Col. Michael Logico announced that there will be over 17,000 Filipino and US troops who will be participating the Balikatan 2023.
This will be conducted to ensure combat readiness and improved the skills of both forces.
