Is The US Going To Drag Us Into A War? The Growing Doubt In The Philippines

Ajouté : 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]As the world continues its shaky march into multi-polarity with the US in decline and China on the rise, one island nation in Southeast Asia looks more and more likely to be caught in the crossfire should the two great powers on Earth start popping off at each other if they clash. The Philippines, a neighbor of China but with very close alignment to the United States, continues to see militarization and drill practice runs. American soldiers are deployed into the country in the thousands right now. Have That has been the case for months, for years. And very recently, the country hosted their regular, their annual Balikatan joint exercises, military drills. In Tagalog, Balikatan or in Filipino, it means uh shoulder to shoulder. And that's exactly the framing the US wants to maintain when talking about US and Philippine relations.

[00:00:57]We stand shoulder to shoulder with this country. And the Australians and the New Zealanders and the Japanese and the Canadians, they came in as part of this Balikatan US-led military exercise in East Asia {slash} Southeast Asia. But trouble is brewing. Or rather, discontent. You see, things are not as they always have been. For decades, uh things are shifting now in a world that sees America as a very different country these days. No in no in no short uh what what I forgot the phrase that I wanted to use, but basically, what I'm trying to say is the Iran war may have caused this shifting uh of uh perception.

[00:01:39]Even America's friends and allies have a fresh perspective and they are cal- recalculating their geopolitical position as a result or feeling the need to start recalculating it. Sorry if I stumbled over my words there. Uh if you are new, probably you're not. You're probably one of my regular viewers. It's one take. I just I just talk about stuff that I think is important and I don't edit out and I don't re-record, etc. etc. So, yeah, you're going to see me stumble and fall flat on my face, uh probably several times a day.

[00:02:09]Anyway, that's the news. Now, here's the analysis.

[00:02:13]>> [snorts] >> Ooh, that's nice.

[00:02:17]It's nice.

[00:02:19]Okay.

[00:02:20]The analysis. A growing number of Filipinos and lawmakers and opposition officials, so so the politics and the citizenry, a growing number in the country are voicing their concerns about boosted and sustained US presence in their country.

[00:02:34]Now, many won't know this, but the messaging in the Philippines, in a growing number of circles, as part of a larger number of their citizenry, is distrust uh or disapproval in the US or disapproval with US actions. They are, the Philippines knows, like everyone else on Earth, watching what is unfolding in the Middle East, with Iran, with the Gulf monarchies, and they are saying, "I can't become a Gulf monarchy of East Asia. I don't know I don't want to be the friend and ally that US uses and discards or abandons when they no longer uh need them or when it's no longer profitable. It's too expensive to protect them. You just leaves them to their fate. I can't do that. And a fight here in East Asia or Southeast Asia wouldn't be a fight with Iran. It would be a fight with flipping China. That's not just a problem, that's a nation destroyer type situation. Yeah, I'm going to my economy, forget my economy, I'm I'm going to cease to exist potentially uh in the form I currently exist in, if that's the kind of fight I get caught up in.

[00:03:40]The Filipinos, they ask, "Are the Americans here for us? Forget if they've ever been here for us or if they were just here for themselves. Right now, is it beneficial to me to have those guys here? Is it for my protection they here or is it to use me that they are here?

[00:03:57]And a 10-minute Google session, uh you know, like a research session will lead to most common people concluding that it is the latter. The US is here for the US. That's not saying the US is bad, by the way. That's just the reality of geopolitics. No one's anywhere except for to benefit themselves. Okay, so that this is not new.

[00:04:15]But the sentiment in the Philippines that's growing, this distrust in America, that's new. Okay, that is new.

[00:04:22]American officials themselves have called the Philippines in the past America's unsinkable aircraft carrier.

[00:04:30]And that kind of footage is now being recirculated and people are like, "Excuse me, what?"

[00:04:35]You know, the Filipino the Filipino people are thinking more and more, "Bro, I'm not your aircraft carrier. Last time I checked or what I thought was the reality is I'm a sovereign nation, a country who has their own sort of will and preferences and etc. etc., right? I'm not just a puppet of yours." Now, Balikatan, the joint exercises, it lasted for 3 weeks.

[00:05:00]7,000 non-US troops took part. 10,000 US troops took part.

[00:05:05]Uh and they included tanks, drones, ships. Of course, ships. There's a lot of water in this area of the world. Any sort of Pacific campaign would have a lot of naval activity. Live fire took place. Artillery, use of uh missiles such as the Tomahawks. Um very fearsome US ordinance. A lot was done, basically.

[00:05:28]But Iran, even in Southeast Asia, Iran is like floating in the minds of many.

[00:05:35]An opposition lawmaker in the Philippines said, "4,800 fishermen whose livelihoods are put at risk so that Balikatan, the naval exercises, the military exercises, sorry, uh so that they can take place, that's not worth it. And working with the US military when it so recently showed all of us that it's they who start the fight and then drag all their friends and allies in against their will. We don't want to be in that situation. And he's looking at the Middle East when he's saying that, of course. And pointing other people to the Middle East saying, "Look, look look what what our allies started."

[00:06:06]Do we want that? Hell no.

[00:06:08]Right? The secretary general of a long-established activist group in the Philippines was a, you know, a group that was set up before I was born. And I'm no spring chicken anymore.

[00:06:19]He [snorts] said, "Balikatan exercises." He referred to them saying, "It is paving the way for the US war machine to boost its horrific range from West Asia to the West Philippines Sea." West Asia, of course, is another name for the Middle East. And those Tomahawk missiles I mentioned, opposition lawmakers in the Philippines said that these were the same weapons tearing Iran apart. So, you see, they keep looking back to the Middle East.

[00:06:45]It's It's on everyone's mind. And they're making comparisons like, "How does that affect us? If that happened here, what would we Would we be the sad Would we be in the sad state of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain and the UAE and potentially partly Oman? Like, would we just be left to our fate even though it was our so-called friend and ally who dragged us in against our will? We would be the ones who suffer the most." And the answer to that, you know, fearful question seems to be, "No, no, we won't suffer the most. We'll suffer much worse than the Gulf monarchies, brother, because this is not Iran, this is China that would we would be fighting alongside America."

[00:07:22]The message is clear.

[00:07:24]This island nation, long embedded within America's sphere of influence, support for being used as a launchpad for America to fight China, let's say, you know, a piece on the American chessboard, an aircraft carrier, support for But whole idea is failing.

[00:07:42]The Filipino people don't want this. And sorry if I keep stumbling over the word Philippines, Filipino because I don't say it much. I don't know the right terminology. Sometimes it's it's like Somalian state. It's not actually Somalian state, it's Somali state. Or Afghani. Afghani is just the currency.

[00:07:58]The The people are called Afghans. So there's a bit of nuance in various countries. I get a bit mixed up sometimes cuz I try to cover the whole world. So bear with me. Yeah, when I stumble. Sorry. Thank you, my Gs. So [snorts] why doesn't the government of the Philippines This is the final question I want to address because it'll probably be on your mind. Why are they just sitting in Manila, you know, doing things uh as they always have been done if the sentiment is changing and people are saying we should reconsider our geopolitical position so that we don't get burned in a sort of in a potential conflict that does not serve us. We don't have a say in starting it. We won't have a say in ending it. We will just have a say in suffering through it. Why are we not, you know, considering decoupling to some degree from Uncle Sam or Grandpa Sam, as I call him now because cuz America's got old now. Short answer, suhol. I mean, pera. Pera. Pera means money.

[00:08:46]>> [snorts] >> The Filipino government received over $1 billion from the United States in the last 10 years. Just handed to them as part of the defense partnerships they have. Just handed to them is not exactly accurate. It's part of a structured system. But the point is money come to Manila, so Manila say thank you, sir.

[00:09:07]Here's the big one, though. In the next 4 years, the US has already set aside a delicious 2.5 billion.

[00:09:16]Just to come So so they've received 1 billion over 10 years, and now for the next 4 years, they're going to receive 2.5 billion. That's like a six times Imagine if your salary was um multiplied by six.

[00:09:29]You'd be like, yes, sir. How high do you want me to jump, sir? Bossman.

[00:09:34]So you know, this is how America is keeping Manila uh the government in Manila on their side. The question is will 2.5 billion actually be enough?

[00:09:44]Will all those naval visits from US warships, hundreds of visits to Filipino ports >> [snorts] >> which you know, inject money into their businesses and the the population there benefit from the US warships coming in and people spending their money and the ships being repaired or serviced or whatever.

[00:10:02]Will all of the monetary support the bribe money not the bribe money the the monetary support will that be enough for this [snorts] island nation to stay on America's side or will further pressure build and action be taken as the titan of Asia very nearby China continues to rise. Time will tell as it always does and I'll be here to report you the news and the analysis unbiased and without the western spin. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Marfo Tetteh Ologo aka News by My Thank you for all your support. All of you wonderful peoples and I'll see you on the next one.

[00:10:41]>> [snorts] >> You're not bad. You're not bad. You're getting good at this. 11 minutes you're watching this video. Damn.

[00:10:47]That's can't say that your attention span is short anymore, can you? Can't say your attention span is short. You're like a deep thinker.

[00:10:57]My guys.