Cebu progressive groups slam Balikatan missile launch, call to end to U.S. military agreements

Progressive groups in Cebu City criticized the recent launch of a United States Tomahawk missile during the Balikatan Exercises, highlighting how Philippine territory is being used for foreign military operations amid the ASEAN Summit 2026, May 8.

During the “Imperialist Crisis and War: A People’s Alternative Forum to the ASEAN Summit 2026” press conference at the UP Cebu Arts and Sciences Hall, Jaime Paglinawan questioned the government’s discussions on peace and security while allowing foreign military activities in the country.

“So unsaon man na pagkab-ot pud ug kanang kasigurohan pud seguridad sa atoang nasod na nahimo na gani ta ug launching pad sa Estados Unidos sa makig gubat niya sa ubang mga nasod,” BAYAN Central Visayas’ chairperson said in Cebuano.

(So how can we achieve and ensure the security of our country as well, when we have already become a launching pad for the United States in its wars against other countries?)

Paglinawan referred to the recent live firing of a Tomahawk missile from the Typhon Mid-Range Capability system as “an insult to Philippine sovereignty” in Tacloban City to a target in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

“Dako kaayo ug insulto sa atoang soberenhiya, kinsay gatugod ana—na patawag nato ug pagpabuto sa Tomahawk missile, na mao man siguro na’y gigamit pud na maong missile … sa pagpabuto didto sa Iran na nibutlo ug gatosan na kinabuhi?,” he added.

(It is a huge insult to our sovereignty. Who started that—calling on us to allow the launching of Tomahawk missiles, which I believe were also the same missiles used in the strikes on Iran that took hundreds of lives?)

He also called for the removal of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and the Visiting Forces Agreement, saying the Philippines remained under the influence of the United States in its economy, politics, military, and culture.

Paglinawan also linked the issue to food and energy insecurity, saying the country remained dependent on rice imports while fuel and electricity prices continued to burden Filipinos.

Meanwhile, Sarah Raymundo of BAYAN said the missile launch reflected the contradiction between ASEAN’s message of peace and the country’s military activities.

“That launch says that the summit’s official language, what the summit cannot say, so while ASEAN speaks of peace, Philippine territory is being prepared for war,” Raymundo said.

Raymundo said the summit in Cebu and the missile launch in Tacloban “must be read together,” arguing that the summit projected diplomacy while military activities continued to intensify.

She added that their opposition to the ASEAN Summit was not a rejection of regional cooperation, but of “a model of regional integration that normalizes military escalation, deepens economic subordination, and treats sovereignty as negotiable.”

“We reject the conversion of Philippine territory into a launch pad for war. We reject the use of state violence against communities defending land and livelihood,” she said.

Raymundo also linked militarization to domestic issues, citing the killings of the “Negros 19” and attacks against peasants and communities resisting land dispossession and extractive projects.

The conference was spearheaded by representatives of the AUPAEU Cebu, BAYAN Central Visayas, Kalikasan, AMA-SUGBO-KMU, IBON Foundation, and Bayan Muna Partylist as an alternative discussion to the Mactan’s ASEAN Summit.