FAQ: Why should Filipinos care about what’s happening in Iran?

Written By BAYAN USA

  1. The Iranian people and peoples across West Asia deserve self-determination, not war, death, and imperialist regime change.

    1. After the US and Israel began its illegal attacks on February 28, more than 1,200 people (as of March 5) have been killed across Iran, including more than 160 school girls and staff at a primary school that was bombed. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also assassinated in the strikes, while Trump has openly been calling for regime change. These are clear violations of international humanitarian law.

    2. The US and Israel's attacks have dragged the entire region into war, on top of the ongoing US-backed and funded Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people. They are part of US imperialism's larger plan to dominate the region politically, militarily, and economically by trying to eliminate forces aligned with the Axis of Resistance, which has been fighting imperialism and its fascist Zionist puppets in the region.

    3. As Filipinos, we have a duty to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people fighting for self-determination against US and Zionist intervention and aggression.

  2. There are more than 2.4 million Filipino migrant workers who have also been dragged into US-Israel’s war, and our families will be paying a price.

    1. West Asia has been the destination for millions of Overseas Filipino Workers ever since the Philippine government began systematically exporting its own people in the 1970s under Ferdinand Marcos' labor export program.

    2. Today, no less than 65% of OFWs worldwide can be found working in the region at any given time. And despite the current Marcos government's assurances that OFWs can "sleep soundly," one domestic worker, Mary Anne Velasquez de Vera, has already died from the war instigated by the US.

    3. Just like the Philippine government advised undocumented Filipinos to "self-deport" under Trump's war against migrants, it told OFWs in West Asia to just "shelter in place." The Marcos administration’s guidance shows not only how of touch it is with the Filipino people, but also its subservience to US imperialism. While Marcos has publicly stated he hopes for a ceasefire, he has not condemned the US-instigated attack and the terror it brings for the masses in the region and his own nationals. And while the Department of Migrant Workers has began repatriation efforts and aid distribution, it continues to uphold the system of labor export that profits from forcing migrant workers to labor in such dangerous conditions to begin with.

    4. Filipinos outside the region will also be affected by the war. In 2024, $6.1 billion in remittances were sent from OFWs in West Asia alone. Job instability as a result of the ongoing attacks will affect the source of livelihood that helps put food on the table for tens of millions back home.

    5. West Asia also accounts for 96% of the Philippines’ oil imports, and 30-40% of those imports pass through the Straight of Hormuz bordering Iran. The war could hike up the oil prices significantly, which would result in increased prices of basic goods and food as transportation costs also increase. Higher prices will mean that even Filipinos in the US who support their families back home will be working even more to cover the costs of living.

  3. The Marcos regime is not an innocent bystander in the US' war drive. Our home country is being used as a staging ground for this war, and possibly more wars to come.

    1. In January 2026, the USS Abraham Lincoln was deployed directly from the Philippines to West Asia to lead the attack. This followed weeks of intensive “live-fire drills” or “war rehearsals” to ensure combat readiness.

    2. Beyond this direct link to the war on Iran, there's more to be concerned about. After the US-Israeli attack, Iran responded by targeting US bases in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. These developments have raised mass consciousness and concern about US military presence in the Philippines. People are now seeing that our country could be targeted by the US' rivals as the US continues to instigate war in the Asia Pacific. Even Sen. Erwin Tulfo (chair of the foreign relations committee) has called for a review of EDCA, and mainstream media outfits have correctly named EDCA sites as US bases.

    3. The Department of National Defense, however, continues to deny that EDCA sites are US bases, instead hiding the truth behind words like "rotational" presence of American troops. But in reality, the opposite is true: the entire country has become a floating base for the US. This is no accident. The US is turning the Philippines into its forward base against China.

    4. Marcos almost doubled the number of approved “Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement” sites from 5 to 9. These sites are in Philippine facilities—like airports, military camps, and so on—and act as de facto bases. Philippine officials can’t even access them without US approval. Reports from communities on the ground indicate that there are even more “secret” sites beyond the 9 publicly announced.

    5. On top of these, agreements that allow for “visiting” or “rotational” forces mean that US troops are permanently rotating in and out of the country. And given the US’ strategy to encircle China, it has also pushed the Philippines to sign similar visiting forces agreements with US allies like Japan, Australia, and Canada.

    6. American and foreign troop presence jumps during joint war games, like the Salaknib and Balikatan, which are coming up in March and April. These have brought fear to communities as bombs are dropped in their backyards, in addition to cutting off livelihood for many fisherfolk communities when the military imposes a no fishing policy during the exercises.

    7. The US has also deployed mobile missile systems that could reach China, and has in motion the building of an ammunition factory and ship-repair facility in the country. Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez even suggested the US consider Subic Bay as the US' warship manufacturing hub. With all this, it’s not hard to see why the Philippines could be the next country dragged into the war zone of the US.

  4. So what can we do?

    1. As a Filipino diaspora, we should stand in solidarity with the peoples of Iran and West Asia for self determination against US and Israeli war and aggression. At the same time, we should unite as a community to demand the US leave our own country and to stop dragging our people into a war we do not want.

    2. This demand is not a pipe dream: the Filipino mass movement has a history of standing up against US military control. In 2004, the people's movement forced the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration to withdraw Philippine troops from Iraq—sent there as part of the US-led military command—after Angelo dela Cruz, a Filipino migrant worker, was kidnapped. Even earlier, in 1991, mass protests forced the Philippine Senate to oust and ban US bases, which is the reason why the US had to find a work around through the Visiting Forces Agreement and EDCA in the first place. Our history proves that we've done it before. Let's do it again.

    3. President Marcos is coming to the US from March 8 to 11 for a United Nations event. Last year, we confronted him for doing nothing to help Filipino nationals under attack from ICE. Let's bring the peoples demands to the streets again and let him know that the Philippines and the Filipino people are not pawns to be exchanged for his war deals with Trump.

    4. Beyond Marcos' visit, we have plenty of opportunities to campaign against US militarism in the Philippines from here. March will also kick-off a series of large-scale war games between the US, Philippines, and other countries: Salaknib in March, Balikatan from April to May, and the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Games in July and August. Many US-based corporations are also involved in building or managing war infrastructure, not to mention the units that are deploying missiles and warships to the Philippines. Connect with a BAYAN USA organization near you to learn more about local campaigns.

    5. Join us in our US Out of the Philippines campaign for a free and peaceful Philippines!

US Out of Iran! US Out of West Asia! US Out of the Philippines! US Out of Everywhere!

References

BAYAN USA
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