ICHRP Response to Feb 6 Crash of US Surveillance Plane in Mindanao
Statement
February 14, 2025
On February 6th, a United States surveillance plane crashed in a rice field near Amputan, Maguindanao in Mindanao. According to the US Indo Pacific Command, “the aircraft was providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies. The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities.” Four people, including one US marine and three contracted by the US Department of Defense died in the crash.
The surveillance operation, which happened not far from the site of the notorious 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, is yet another event which raises serious concerns about the devastating impacts of the United States role in “counter-terror” and counterinsurgency operations in the Philippines.
Indeed, this is not the first time that US troops have been identified conducting operations in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao, or even the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Following the 2001 US proclamation of the Philippines as the “2nd Front on the War on Terror” under the Bush Administration, an increase in US militarism and aid to “counter-terror” operations ensued. In 2015, under the Aquino regime, following the Mamasapano massacre which took the lives of civilians in a so-called “counter-terror” operation, Suara Bangsamoro identified the body of a US military officer killed in the operation, despite US denial. Under the Duterte Administration in 2017, the US played an integral role in directing and providing intelligence when the Armed Forces of the Philippines bombarded Marawi City, displacing 400,000 and putting at risk thousands of civilians.
As the US increases its presence in the Philippines, US aerial surveillance is now a growing trend in the Philippines. In September 2016, Defense Secretary Lorenzana told the Philippine legislature that 107 U.S. soldiers based in Zamboanga City were conducting surveillance operations in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, using both aircraft as well as drones. According to the US Naval Institute News, US Marines began operating MQ-9A Reaper drones out of Basa Air Base “to provide reconnaissance and surveillance” beginning in 2024.
The impacts of US involvement in surveillance and counterinsurgency in the Philippines are well documented and longstanding. From the time of the Philippine-American war (1899-1902) through to the onset of the US War on Terror, US involvement in the Philippines has resulted in a massive death toll and destruction of land and people’s livelihood.
Mindanao for example – an island rich with natural resources – has always been a target of the US. The US has launched military operations on the island dating back to 1899, seeking to subdue the Filipino people and establish economic control. Today’s counterinsurgency operations, which seek to squash the Filipino people’s resistance and struggle for self-determination, ultimately aim to deepen US hegemony in the Asia Pacific region. With the support of the US, the Philippine state continues to target poor and rural communities, including indigenous Moro and Lumad peoples. But these operations only serve to exacerbate the very basis of the people’s resistance which the US-backed Marcos regime seeks to crush.
US meddling in the Philippines, and US direct involvement in counterinsurgency operations, stands contrary to the people’s aspiration for genuine peace and sovereignty.
The exposure of this recent surveillance operation raises further questions about the number of undisclosed US operations happening elsewhere in the archipelago. As ICHRP, we call for a probe into the nature of the recent surveillance operation to be made public. Amid the rapid increase of US troops in the Philippines, and the multiplying foreign military agreements with the Philippines, we call for the immediate withdrawal of US troops and the halting of foreign military agreements with the Philippines.
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