News Release
March 24, 2011
The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today criticized the Philippine and US governments for alleged “nuclear hypocrisy” and double standards when it comes to North Korea.
“The Demoratic People’s Republic of Korea has no imperialist ambitions and therefore does not pose a threat to the region. Its rocket launch is for putting a satellite into orbit. In fact, it is North Korea which has come under constant threat and provocation from the world biggest nuclear superpower which is the United States. The US, not North Korea, is the biggest nuclear threat in the world today,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“The US is apparently using the North Korea rocket launch as another pretext for deploying more troops in the region. The Philippine government has apparently sought US assistance regarding the effects of falling debris which will hit 190 kilometers from Northern Philippines,” Reyes said.
Bayan said that US nuclear hypocrisy is apparent when it accuses other nations of developing nuclear weapons while it strategically places its own nuclear weapons all over the world though submarines and military bases. The US possesses more than 5,100 nuclear warheads in its stockpile.
North Korea as of late has suspended its nuclear weapons test and uranium enrichment program and allowed international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex.
“It appears that the US is not content with the DPRK’s commitment and sees any rocket launch as a potential nuclear threat, even if the rocket is only for peaceful use such as a satellite. It is North Korea’s sovereign right to undertake a rocket launch for peaceful use. This is why the DPRK is adamant in its opposition to US interference,” Reyes said.
Balikatan justified?
Bayan blasted the Philippine government’s posturing versus North Korea as also hypocritical. “The PH government is up in arms over North Korea’s rocket test, but is eerily silent about the use of US drones in Philippine airspace. The PH government has not even sought any explanation for the US government’s secret storage of nuclear weapons in the Philippines during the last century,” Reyes said.
“The Philippine government is not at all concerned with the possibility of more nuclear-armed US warships entering the Philippines via port calls and joint exercises, despite the fact that this will violate our Constitution,” he added.
Based on a declassified document from the independent non-governmental organization National Security Archive based in the George Washington University, the US government had secretly stored nuclear weapons in the Philippines, during the time of the Marcos dictatorship.
The memo said that “divulgence of the fact that nuclear weapons are stored in the Philippines, and have been there for many years without prior consultation with the Philippine government, would greatly jeopardize US-Philippine relations, particularly on the eve of presidential elections scheduled on October 11 (1969).”
Bayan said after the Philippine government joined the US chorus versus North Korea, it might make use of the rocket incident to further justify the upcoming Balikatan war games.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines is telling us that we really need US assistance on the issue of the rocket launch and debris. This helps to condition public opinion on the so-called need for the Balikatan war games,” Reyes said. ###
