ACTIVIST group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan in a press conference held on Wednesday with Stop the War coalition sought the Philippine and US governments to explain the clandestine transfer of 39 million gallons of fuel from the US military base in Red Hill, Hawai’i to Subic Bay. 

“The broader context here is that there is militarization happening in the Southeast Asian Sea,” said Lazaro. “This is not something that we can say is just a fuel transfer. This is, for us, a fuel transfer that is curiously enough to fuel a fleet, and so we want explanations immediately from the government of the Philippines, and the United States.

“What is this 39 million gallons of naval fuel for? Because if we are left in the dark, we are only left to make the logical conclusion that this 39 million gallons of naval fuel is going to be used to intensify militarization in the Southeast Asian Sea,” he added.

Lazaro also pointed out: “The more militarization in the Southeast Asia Sea, the more tensions will rise, the more we will see the chance of conflict escalating in our own backyard – and who is going to be at the frontlines of this conflict? None other than the Republic of the Philippines. And who is going to face the brunt of the costs of this war – not just financial, but also physical, environmental, social, generational? It is going to be the citizens of the Republic of the Philippines.”

Lazaro argued that militarization in the Southeast Asian Sea was rooted in US imperialism, stating that “This is imperialist rivalry … between two imperialist powers that are going head-to-head because they are fighting for economic influence around the world … And if it means war, then it means war. We have seen imperialist rivalry and the cost of imperialist war all throughout history.”

He further pointed out that the fuel transfer from the Red Hill facility in Hawai’i to Subic was already reported by Joint Task Force Red Hill through the websites of the US Marines and the US Indo-Pacific Command. SPARK demanded that the governments of the Philippines and the United States issue immediate explanations to the Filipino public regarding fuel transfers from the Red Hill facility. 

Additionally, the youth organization called on the Philippine government to immediately boot out the storage of US Navy fuel out of Subic and our sovereign waters.

Lazaro also reiterated the organization’s longstanding call for the Philippine government to junk the US-PH Mutual Defense Treaty, Visiting Forces Agreements with the US and its allies, and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

He proposed the alternative of building stronger ties with ASEAN and Global South countries to challenge imperialism. Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan has been diligently organizing opposition to rising imperialist tensions in the Southeast Asian region from the United States and its allies. We are dedicated to the struggle of working peoples around the world for our freedom from exploitation. 