Quezon Metropolis – On a freeway within the Ilocos Norte province earlier this month, Father Arvin Mangrubang of the Philippine Impartial Church slowly drove reverse a dozen or so hulking armoured automobiles and vans carrying United States troopers.
He felt a pit kind in his throat.
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“It’s develop into so normalised round right here, the navy, the specter of struggle,” Mangrubang instructed Al Jazeera.
This coastal province on the nation’s northwestern tip faces the South China Sea and is simply 345km (214 miles) south of Taiwan.
On account of its strategic location, the province commonly hosts high-profile shows of navy may as a part of US-Philippines struggle video games, together with the just lately concluded annual Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) joint workouts.
Father Mangrubang says US troopers will be noticed all 12 months spherical within the space, however through the summer season months of April and Could, their navy operations kick into excessive gear.
What seems like an occasional reminder of potential battle is then remodeled by the Balikatan workouts right into a palpable invitation that confrontation could possibly be simply across the nook.
“The fixed show of tanks, drones and loud gunfire sends everybody right into a fright, particularly those that dwell so near the operations,” Mangrubang instructed Al Jazeera.
This 12 months’s three-week-long Balikatan workouts have been the largest thus far, with greater than 17,000 troopers participating from six countries alongside the Philippines.
The US navy made up the lion’s share of the international contingent, with some 10,000 troopers in attendance, whereas a number of thousand troopers hailed from Canada, Japan, Australia, France and New Zealand.
Analysts consider the struggle video games, which occur throughout the archipelago, quantity to a provocation of Washington’s rival in East Asia – China – at a time when the US navy is waging struggle towards Iran.
Domestically, Philippine fishing and farming communities have additionally suffered livelihood disruption brought on by the drills.
The Philippines: ‘A ahead base and launch pad’
Raymond Palatino, secretary-general of Bayan, a nationwide coalition of activist teams first shaped in 1985 to confront the US-backed hardline rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, mentioned the Philippines ought to distance itself from US navy planning, beginning with ending joint workouts.
“It’s paving the best way for the US struggle machine to spice up its horrific vary from West Asia to the West Philippine Sea,” Palatino instructed Al Jazeera.
Bayan supporters held protests on the headquarters of the Philippine navy and the US Embassy in Manila, coinciding with the beginning of the Balikatan workouts.
The activists mentioned the US navy presence heightened the probabilities of the Philippines turning into a goal for Washington’s enemies and risked dragging Filipinos into the battle, simply as Gulf nations had been drawn into the struggle on Iran.
“The workouts clearly demonstrated the particular navy position that the US desires the Philippines to play in its inter-imperialist rivalry with China: That of a ahead base and launchpad for navy assaults,” Bayan mentioned in a press release.
“The presence of US troops and weapons within the nation doesn’t assure our security or safety. Quite the opposite, it will increase the chance of avoidable deaths and destruction, together with potential assaults from US adversaries,” it mentioned.
“That is evident within the ongoing US-Israel struggle towards Iran, the place American navy bases and amenities in Gulf nations have develop into respectable targets within the battle,” it added.
Philippine Main-Common Francisco Lorenzo Jr, native director of the Balikatan workouts, mentioned the US’s struggle on Iran had no relevance for the struggle video games within the Philippines, whereas his US navy counterpart mentioned the manoeuvres didn’t current a problem to anybody, significantly China, the US’s principal navy rival.
Marco Valbuena, spokesperson of the Communist Celebration of the Philippines (CPP), which leads a insurgent military within the Philippine countryside, known as claims in regards to the defensive, “deterrence” character of Balikatan “pure hogwash”.
“The Balikatan workouts will additional tighten the US navy stranglehold of the Philippines, and make it function a springboard for navy aggression in Asia and elsewhere,” Valbuena mentioned.
“This ‘deterrence coverage’ didn’t cease the US from finishing up the bombing of Iran on false pretexts,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
Valbuena additionally mentioned home anti-rebellion operations are an enormous a part of the US agenda, with the rebels accusing American officers of “manning technical tools in AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] tactical command posts throughout fight operations towards the NPA [New People’s Army]”, the armed wing of the CPP.
Rehearsals for struggle?
The Philippines is the biggest recipient of US navy help within the Asia Pacific area.
Between 2015 and 2022, Washington despatched greater than $1.14bn value of navy tools, together with planes, ships, armoured automobiles, small arms and coaching programmes to the Philippines, in addition to greater than 850 ship visits to Philippine ports and a minimum of 1,300 navy engagements with native forces.
In December 2025, the US Congress accepted a proposal to allot $2.5bn in safety help to the Philippines till 2030.
Worldwide research professor Renato De Castro on the De La Salle College in Manila instructed Al Jazeera that this 12 months’s Balikatan had a twin message: The US “displaying the world and China that it’s able to mobilising and deploying forces in two totally different theatres” concurrently, the Center East and Southeast Asia.
Professor Roland Simbulan, an knowledgeable on US-Philippine relations from the College of the Philippines, mentioned the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz additionally despatched a message to China, Iran’s principal buying and selling associate.
The Philippines, Simbulan added, is now essential to Washington as US navy amenities within the Philippines are key for its “refuelling, restore, communications and intelligence” – what he described as “eyes, ears and brains” within the Southeast Asia area.
The 2014 Enhanced Protection Cooperation Settlement with the Philippines permits the US to refuel and bunker its naval vessels at native ports. The US already has a significant refuelling station in its former naval base in Subic Bay, whereas in July 2025, it was reported that the US navy was eyeing the southern Philippine islands for one more refuelling station.
Plans have additionally been introduced for the development of a US ammunition manufacturing unit within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
In keeping with De Castro of De La Salle College, the Balikatan workouts have shifted emphasis within the final two years from inside safety to exterior defence.
This, in line with De Castro, means the workouts are centered on “oiling the equipment” of struggle and “actually rehearsing it with allies, with the USA, with Japan, so forth”.
The US has since 2024 deployed its Typhon missile system in Ilocos Norte province, which is able to launching Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles.
On Could 6, US and Philippine forces, for the primary time, launched a Tomahawk missile as a part of the Balikatan drills. The missile flew 600km (373 miles) from Tacloban metropolis to Nueva Ecija.
The Makabayan Coalition, a gaggle of opposition lawmakers, criticised the missile launch, saying these have been the identical US weapons tearing Iran aside.
“The Philippines just isn’t a playground for US missiles and bombs that will likely be used to kill civilians in different elements of the world,” the lawmakers mentioned.
Among the many demonstrations showcased to the general public through the workouts have been air defence manoeuvres in Zambales province and dwell hearth workouts in Palawan and Ilocos Norte, which culminated within the sinking of a decommissioned World Struggle II-era vessel off Ilocos Norte’s coast on Could 8.
Such actions haven’t been acquired effectively by native communities, who depend on fishing and farming in areas the place the struggle video games happen.
‘No sail zone’
The Philippine navy declared a “no sail zone” for as much as 11 days alongside sure coastal areas to make approach for the Balikatan.
“Filipino fishers don’t should be restricted from their livelihood, particularly as we’re grappling with the oil worth shock that stemmed from the aggression of the US and Israel within the Center East,” mentioned Ronnel Arambulo of the Pamalakaya organisation, a nationwide federation of small fisherfolk.
In keeping with the group’s estimates, alongside Subic Bay in Zambales province, the workouts affect the livelihood of about 4,800 fisherfolk.
In a 2023 report, the Philippine Statistics Authority discovered that fisherfolk had the very best poverty incidence within the nation.
Hilda Reyes, a member of the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Assets Administration Council in San Antonio, Zambales, mentioned regardless of the navy permitting just a few hours a day for fishermen to take their boats out, many have been afraid of getting caught in potential crossfire.
“Through the workouts, there’s no telling what may occur out at sea. I wouldn’t threat it myself,” Reyes instructed Al Jazeera.
Reyes added that apart from fisherfolk, many within the native casual financial system live hand to mouth and struggling to get by.
Colonel Dennis Hernandez, Balikatan spokesperson for the Philippines, instructed Al Jazeera that the navy was making an attempt to minimise the disruption to the native financial system.
“Momentary security zones could also be established in particular areas throughout live-fire or maritime actions strictly for public security,” Hernandez mentioned.
However amid the Balikatan drills and rising relations with the US and different international militaries, China and the Philippines continued to commerce barbs over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Manila scored a diplomatic and authorized win in 2016 by attaining a beneficial ruling on the Everlasting Courtroom of Arbitration in The Hague over China’s expansive claims to the South China Sea.
Nonetheless, Beijing maintains it has sovereign rights over about 90 % of the disputed waters within the sea and commonly clashes with Manila over their overlapping claims.
On April 24, just some days into Balikatan, China’s Southern Theatre Command performed live-fire drills within the South China Sea east of the Philippines’ Luzon island group.
The Chinese language navy mentioned the drills have been to “safeguard nationwide sovereignty”.
Chinese language International Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun additionally had a direct warning relating to Balikatan.
“The very last thing the area wants is division and confrontation because of the introduction of exterior forces,” Guo mentioned.
“For nations that tie their very own safety to others, it is very important keep in mind that this will likely very effectively backfire.”
