U.S. Secretary of Defense, and former Raytheon board member, Lloyd Austin visited the Philippines, where he met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Feb. 1 to announce the expansion of the U.S. military presence there, from five to nine bases. The expansion and establishment of these bases are all

With a U.S./NATO-instigated proxy war in Ukraine in full-swing, justified under the auspices of “protecting” Ukraine, and with the U.S. showing no desire to de-escalate, there is no reason to believe joint-access military base expansion would protect the Philippines. U.S. maneuvers in the region have threatened aggression against China. The presence of additional U.S. military personnel only puts the Philippines in the crossfire.