Fight for Genuine Sovereignty and Liberation!

80 Years of Philippine-American “Diplomacy,” 127 Years of Imperialist Domination

This year marks the 127th anniversary of the Philippine-American War.

BAYAN USA commemorates the lives lost in the genocide committed by the U.S. against the Filipino people in our struggle to be free from colonialism. We remember this forgotten war because we honor the unceasing resistance of our people that continues up to this day against the national oppression of the U.S. government aided by its Philippine puppet presidents.

This year also marks 80 years of “diplomatic relations” between the Philippines and the United States.

But we know this alliance is really an unequal relationship between colonizer and colonized, between imperialist and a people struggling to be free.

Though the Philippine-American War ended, the U.S. never truly left. It is still ever-present, dominating the lives of Filipino people in the Philippines and making life hell for its diaspora around the world, including in the United States.

We see this in the ways the current Marcos administration kowtows to the whims of the United States, appeasing and enabling President Donald Trump’s fascist and neoliberal policies.

Filipino migrants and their families have been subject to detention and deportation by ICE and Trump’s anti-immigrant policies all while the Philippine Embassy and Consulates barely lift a finger. Instead, they put the blame on their own nationals for not “being proactive” in fixing their legal status.

Even Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Romualdez—Marcos’ cousin—made it clear that his primary objective for being in the embassy in Washington D.C. is to serve the interest of the U.S.

“Our job in the embassy... is precisely to have good relations with the U.S. government” Ambassador Romualdez on Trump’s immigration crackdown (Feb 19, 2026)

The Philippine government sells out our homeland’s natural resources and labor to the highest bidder, often giving privilege to U.S. corporations and so-called public-private partnerships. These are facilitated through multilateral “partnerships” like the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) or bilateral free trade agreements, like the one that Marcos “negotiated” during his July 2025 meeting with Trump with a 1% reduction in tariffs as a result.

Bongbong Marcos is once again going to the U.S. from March 8-11 to speak at the special session of the U.N. General Assembly Commission on the Status of Women. He is sure to sell out Philippine sovereignty even more than he already has.

Militarily, the Philippines is in a choke hold to U.S. geopolitical interests in the Asia Pacific. Seen as a “floating aircraft carrier” in the Pacific, the Philippines is the U.S.’ launching pad for war into the region, especially against its rival China. Each year, the Filipino people are subjected to increasing U.S. presence in the form of joint military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and unequal military agreements that continue to infringe the Philippines’ sovereignty.

Additionally the U.S. and the Philippines outlined in a joint statement February 17th specific defense and security plans for this year, including joint military exercises, Washington's support to help “modernize” the Philippine military and efforts “to increase deployments of U.S. cutting-edge missile and unmanned systems to the Philippines.”

As the U.S. strategizes to continue its imperial rule on the Philippines and the Filipino people, we as Filipinos abroad need to speak up, expose and resist the fascist offensive on our migrant workers here in the states and demand the U.S. out of the Philippines and fight for fight for genuine sovereignty and liberation for our kababayan!