Members of militant youth group League of Filipino Students (LFS) held a lightning rally in front of the United States Embassy in Manila today in protest of “continued US intervention in the Philippines.”

“The presence of US troops in the Philippines undermines the supposed sovereignty and independence of the country, even more so if that presence is permanent,” said Terry Ridon, secretary general of the LFS.

Earlier, retired Navy Lt. Nancy Gadian, a whistle blower in the misuse of Balikatan Funds in 2007 has confirmed US participation in combat.

“The continued implementation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and other unequal treaties with the US has taken away the victories of decades worth of Filipino struggle against US intervention such as the dismantling of US Bases in 1991,” said Ridon.

‘Down with US Imperialism’

“The people’s battle cry in the anti-bases struggle was ‘down with US imperialism,’ and that remains appropriate, if not even more so, today,” the youth leader added.

According to Ridon, the policies being implemented in the country today serve US interests at the expense of the Filipino people.

“After a decade since it was ratified, we ask what the people has gotten out of the VFA. The supposed aid that is being given by the US troops in Mindanao serve nothing but a smokescreen to their intervention in the country. It is nothing if it costs us our freedom,” said Ridon.

Bigger protests to come

The protesters vowed to return to the US embassy on September 16, the anniversary of the Philippine Senate’s vote to dismantle US bases, to intensify their calls for US troops to go out of the country and for the junking of the VFA.

“Our country shall never develop as long as we serve the economic and military interests of the US, as long as we have a government that is subservient to foreign demands,” added Ridon.

Today’s protest action was part of the commemoration of the 32nd anniversary of the founding of the LFS, which has been at the forefront of the youth movement against imperialism since the 80s.